A liquefied natural gas tanker on Sunday docked at the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, with only days to go before the United States ships its first export cargo of seaborne gas from the lower 48 states, Reuters reports.
U.S. exports will add to a wave of supply coming from Australian projects at a time when demand is faltering in major consuming countries and prices are plummeting in line with oil.
Expected to become an importer of LNG just a decade ago, the shale gas revolution in the United States that unlocked cheap, abundant supplies has wreaked havoc on global gas markets as LNG meant for the country was redirected around the world.
Set to load the first shale gas to export markets, the Asia Vision LNG tanker docked at Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal Sunday, Reuters ship tracking data showed.
The tanker arrived in January in the Gulf of Mexico but has been anchored off the coast of the terminal after the first shipment from the facility was delayed due to mechanical problems.
Another tanker, the Energy Atlantic, has also been waiting in the Gulf of Mexico to pick up LNG from Sabine Pass since January.
Cheniere says it expected its first cargo to leave the facility by the end of this month or in early March.
“We will export the first cargo shortly. Touch wood, it’ll be at the end of February or in early March,” Andrew Walker, Cheniere Energy’s vice president for strategy, said during an energy industry event in Germany last week.
The company initially intended Sabine Pass as an LNG import terminal but will draw on shale gas production for exports instead. Read the full story.Â
