By Marianna Parraga and Curtis Williams
HOUSTON (Reuters) -The number of liquefied (LNG) tankers waiting to load at Freeport LNG in Texas has increased since the second-largest U.S. exporter of the supercooled gas halted processing ahead of Hurricane Beryl’s landfall last week, according to shipping data from Thursday.
Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, on the Texas coast, on July 8, battering the state with 80 mph winds that caused infrastructure damage and left more than 2 million customers without electricity for days.
Ports and energy companies in many coastal cities, including Freeport, suffered from wind damage and a slow restoration of power.
Freeport LNG, which shut down its three liquefaction trains on July 7 and subsequently reported wind damage, has had a slow operational restart since then.
The LNG exporter said on Monday it planned to restart one processing train this week and the remaining two trains soon after, but that production would be reduced while repairs continued.
U.S. gas futures were down about 7% on Monday to a 10-week low after it became clear to the market that Freeport LNG was likely to continue operating at less than full capacity for several more days.
Gas flow to the facility increased Thursday and was expected to consume 500 million cubic feet, up from 400 mmcf on Wednesday, according to LSEG data. The increase in gas use is seen as an indicator of LNG production starting in the first train, which can consume up to 700 mmcf per day.
However, loading of the ships has not resumed. A total of six empty LNG tankers were anchored near the port, compared to a few ships before the storm, with some of them having to wait more than 10 days. According to LSEG, the last loaded ships departed Freeport before Beryl’s landfall on July 5.
As of Thursday, Freeport LNG had not issued any instructions to bring tankers to its berths, even though some ships were on schedule, a source familiar with the company’s operations said.
The Port of Freeport reopened the shipping channel last week, but draft restrictions for vessels remain, according to the Brazos Pilots Association.
Long waiting times for ships with back-to-back contracts often lead to cargo cancellations.
Freeport LNG has canceled at least 10 cargoes before loading through August, Bloomberg reported, citing traders familiar with the matter.
Freeport LNG said Thursday it would not comment on its commercial operations, including freight.
Gas flows to the seven major US LNG export plants have fallen to 11.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) so far in July, mainly due to the Freeport outage, compared to 12.8 bcfd in June and a monthly record of 14.7 bcfd in December 2023. .
