Freeport LNG cancels at least 10 cargoes after Hurricane Beryl outage in Texas

(Bloomberg) – The Freeport liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Texas has canceled at least 10 cargoes for loading through August after Hurricane Beryl forced the facility to shut, according to traders familiar with the matter.

That number is expected to keep rising as long as the facility is not at full capacity, said the traders, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Gas delivered by pipeline into Freeport was at less than a third of normal on Thursday, indicating most of the terminal is still offline, according to preliminary data from BloombergNEF.

Some of the plant’s contracted buyers are rushing to replace canceled cargoes of the power-plant fuel, people familiar with the matter said.

The companies hardest hit by the outage at Freeport LNG, which began on July 6, include Japanese companies Jera Co. and Osaka Gas Co., oil majors bp Plc. and TotalEnergies SE, and South Korea’s SK E&S Co., the people said. Customers of these firms are also seeking replacements, according to the people.

Traders expect a prolonged outage will push European and Asian gas prices higher. Gas at the European hub TTF rose on Thursday.

A Freeport LNG spokesperson declined to comment. The plant continues its phased restart, with one of its three production units expected to resume operations by this week. Freeport’s capacity is 15 million metric tons of LNG a year.

As of Thursday, draft conditions into Freeport were at 39 feet, according to the Brazos Pilots Association, which guides tankers picking up cargoes at the plant. This is near the ideal conditions for fully-loaded vessels at the facility.