A long-awaited wave of new LNG demand is coming into view from two Gulf Coast projects. Venture Global has exported the first commissioning cargo from Plaquemines LNG, while Cheniere Energy has started producing LNG from its Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion.
East Daley Analytics tracks these and other LNG projects in the Macro Supply & Demand Report. On December 26, Venture Global announced that the first commissioning cargo from Plaquemines LNG had set sail aboard the Venture Bayou, en route to ENBW in Germany. The new facility in Louisiana achieved first liquefaction on December 14. Once constructed, Plaquemines will be able to produce 20 MTPA from 36 liquefaction trains.
During the 12 days between first liquefaction and the departure of the Venture Bayou, Plaquemines received about 4.5 Bcf of gas from the Gator Express Pipeline, according to samples tracked by East Daley. Another 2.9 Bcf was transported to the facility in the final six days of December. Maximum daily flows for the month peaked at ~650 MMcf/d.
Meanwhile, Cheniere’s Corpus Christi LNG achieved first liquefaction at the 10 MTPA Stage 3 expansion on December 30. Cheniere expects the first of the project’s seven midscale trains to achieve substantial completion by the end of 1Q25.
Flows to Corpus Christi along the Corpus Christi Pipeline didn’t show any significant increases through the month of December as the Stage 3 expansion began commissioning. However, with the ADCC Pipeline entering service back in July, it’s likely the additional volumes for the expansion project are coming through the intrastate pipe, and will not be publicly available even as the project achieves completion.
With both projects now liquefying gas, US LNG demand reached an all-time high of 15.4 Bcf/d on January 6 (see figure). East Daley has long been bullish 2025 natural gas prices due to LNG export growth. In the Macro Supply & Demand Report, we expect LNG demand to grow steadily through the year as more trains begin commissioning and subsequently enter service. – Ian Heming. Tickers: LNG.
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