Infrastructure: Elevated nitrogen content in natural gas flowing from the Permian Basin is creating operational hazards for some LNG exporters, particularly Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi LNG terminal.
New Product: East Daley has added five new tabs to the NGL Purity Product Forecast, including prebuilt basin-level area charts, waterfall charts, annual exit and annual average tables, and a dedicated ethane rejection tab. Clients can access the updated Excel file here: https://portal.eastdaley.com/canvas/ngl-purity-product. For additional detail, see the section below or contact Julian or Sam using the contact information at the end of this newsletter.
Exports: NGL exports decreased 25.3% W-o-W for the week ending Aug. 28, with both LPG and ethane contributing to the decline.
Rigs: The total US rig count decreased to 601 the week of Aug. 29.
Infrastructure:
Elevated nitrogen content in natural gas flowing from the Permian Basin is creating operational hazards for some LNG exporters. The problem is particularly acute at Cheniere Energy’s (LNG) Corpus Christi facility, according to East Daley Analytics’ monitoring of feedgas quality at LNG projects.
East Daley now tracks daily gas composition at many of the LNG export facilities in operation in the Lower 48, including the ethane content of feedgas. The data is available for clients in the ‘LNG Heat Content’ dashboard in Energy Data Studio.
The data shows Cheniere’s Corpus Christi LNG terminal is receiving gas with the highest nitrogen concentration among major LNG facilities. Corpus Christi has taken in gas with an average 1.3% nitrogen content since April 27 (see figure below). This is 35% over the commonly referenced 1.0% threshold to assure normal operations at LNG plants.
By comparison, feedgas to Sabine Pass LNG averaged just 0.16% nitrogen content over the same period, while flows to Cove Point averaged 0.28% nitrogen content, making Corpus Christi a clear outlier among the facilities we analyze.
We use gas quality data from on electronic bulletin boards (EBBs) for interstate pipelines and, in the case of Corpus Christi LNG, Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Pipeline. Our estimates do not include flows from WhiteWater’s ADCC intrastate line, which also delivers to the Corpus Christi terminal.
Nitrogen is an inert component of natural gas and does not contribute to heating value. Since nitrogen boils at a much lower temperature than methane, rich nitrogen feeds can overload a liquefaction plant’s vapor handling and compressor loops.
Elevated nitrogen has become a growing concern for some LNG facilities as new pipelines have pushed more nitrogen-rich Permian gas to the Gulf Coast. Corpus Christi is located between the Katy and Agua Dulce hubs, the two delivery points for recent pipelines like Whistler and Matterhorn Express.
Cheniere executives have acknowledged the gas-quality problem at Corpus Christi and taken several measures to address it, including modifying plant operations and injecting solvents into the gas stream to mitigate the nitrogen. On the company’s 4Q25 earnings call, CEO Jack Fusco said Cheniere is also investing in front-end infrastructure to manage variability in gas content before flows reach the facility.
Along with nitrogen, East Daley tracks the ethane content for feedgas to LNG terminals. In contrast to nitrogen, ethane has higher energy content and increases the heating value of natural gas.
Despite receiving gas with a higher average ethane concentration than Sabine Pass, Corpus Christi exhibits the lowest average heating value among the LNG facilities we review. The data suggests elevated nitrogen is an important contributor to this difference in gas quality.
New Product:
East Daley has added five new tabs to the NGL Purity Product Forecast, our NGL production model, making it easier to analyze historical trends and forecasted changes across the US, PADDs, basins and sub-basins. The new tabs include:
- Ethane Rejection: A prebuilt workflow showing historical and forecasted ethane rejection across the Lower 48.
- Area Charts: Prebuilt charts showing purity product production and ethane recovery vs rejection. Views are available for the total US, PADD, basin and sub-basin levels.
- Waterfall Charts: Prebuilt waterfall charts highlighting changes in supply by purity product across the US, PADDs, basins and sub-basins (see figure below).
- NGL Annual Exits: A table showing annual exit production by NGL purity product for the US, PADDs, basins and sub-basins, including Y-o-Y changes in both percentage and volume.
To access these new features, download the latest NGL Purity Product file at the link below. The five new tabs are located on the far right side of the workbook.
https://portal.eastdaley.com/canvas/ngl-purity-product
Exports:
NGL exports decreased 25.3% W-o-W for the week ending Aug. 28, with both LPG and ethane contributing to the decline.
LPG exports decreased 20% W-o-W. Enterprise’s EHT and Energy Transfer’s Nederland and Marcus Hook terminals all saw lower activity.
Ethane exports decreased 40.4% W-o-W, with all terminals registering declines. EPD’s Neches River saw the largest absolute decrease, down 144 Mb/d, while ET’s Marcus Hook recorded the largest percentage decline at 65.4%.
Rigs:
The total US rig count decreased to 601 the week of Aug. 29. Liquids-driven basins decreased to 462, down 2 rigs W-o-W.
- Anadarko (+1): Eiger Operating
- Permian (-5)
- Midland (-3): Double Eagle (-2), Summit Petroleum (-1)
- Delaware (-2): Matador Resources, Northstar Resources
