Freeport LNG liquefaction train at Texas export plant shuts

Freeport LNG reported to state regulators on Thursday that one of the three liquefaction train at its export plant in Texas was shut down on Wednesday.

Freeport stated that Train 3 was tripped during operation due to a problem with a lube-oil pump. This caused an emissions event which lasted for more than 11 hour from Wednesday evening until early Thursday morning.

The state report did not include any details about the company's plans to restart.

U.S. Natural Gas Futures fell after the news. They lost half of the 8% increase that had taken prices to an all-time high earlier in the morning.

Freeport is closely monitored around the globe. The start and stop of operations can cause massive price fluctuations.

Gas prices were at an 11-month high of $15 per mmBtu before the news broke, both at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility benchmark for Europe and at the Japan-Korea Marker in Asia. This was due to concerns about Russian supplies as well as the upcoming colder weather.

Part of the earlier U.S. increase in price was due to a couple U.S. gas export plants that were on track to reach record levels. The seven major U.S. plants are on track to reach a record high in 11 months of 14.5 billion cubic feet per day on Thursday. This is up from 14.1 billion cubic foot per day on Wednesday.

The Freeport plant, while being one of the seven, should see a reduction in its gas flow if only one liquefaction station is closed. Each train of the 2.1 bcfd Freeport Plant is capable of converting around 0.7 billion cubic feet of gas per day into LNG.

A billion cubic feet of gas is enough to power five million U.S. households for one day. (Reporting and editing by Cynthia Osterman; Scott DiSavino)

(source: Reuters)