US natgas flows to LNG export plants set to hit record high - Refinitiv
March 3 (Reuters) - The amount of natural gas flowing to U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plants was on track to hit a daily record high on Friday as Freeport LNG's facility in Texas keeps pulling in more of the fuel, according to data provider Refinitiv.
Gas flows to U.S. LNG export plants were set to reach a preliminary 14.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) on Friday, up from 13.4 bcfd on Thursday and the previous daily record of 13.8 bcfd in March 2022 before Freeport LNG shut in a fire in June 2022.
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Freeport LNG, the second biggest U.S. LNG export plant, was on track to pull in 1.4 bcfd of gas on Friday, up from 1.2 bcfd on Thursday as it continues to ramp up after exiting an eight-month outage in February, Refinitiv data showed.
Energy traders said any gas flows over 0.9 bcfd likely mean Freeport LNG restarted the second of the plant's three liquefaction trains since each train can turn about 0.7 bcfd of gas into LNG for export.
When operating at full power, Freeport LNG's three trains can turn about 2.1 bcfd of gas into LNG for export.
Freeport LNG said on Feb. 21 that the plant could be consuming about 2 bcfd of feedgas "over the next several weeks". Some analysts, however, have said the plant will likely not return to full capacity until the end of April.
Federal regulators have already approved the restart of two liquefaction trains. On Monday, Freeport LNG asked regulators for permission to restart the third.
The total amount of gas flowing to the seven big U.S. LNG export plants, including Freeport LNG, jumped to 12.8 bcfd in February from 12.3 bcfd in January. That is just shy of the 12.9-bcfd monthly record set in March 2022. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)