Freeport LNG’s long-idled liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Texas was on track to receive no natural gas from pipelines on Tuesday after receiving small amounts over the past 12 days, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Since Jan. 26, when federal regulators approved the company’s plan to start cooling some pipes, the plant has pulled in an average of 34 million cubic feet per day of pipeline gas.

That is a fraction of what it can pull in when operating at full power. Freeport can turn about 2.1 billion cubic feet of gas into LNG each day, which is about 2% of total U.S. daily gas production.

“We continue to progress our work towards the safe restart of our liquefaction facility,” Freeport LNG spokesperson Heather Browne said in an email. The company had no comment on the gas flows to the plant.

Last week, Freeport told Texas regulators it would start sending gas to one of three liquefaction trains, which turn gas into LNG.

The plant, however, is waiting for permission from federal regulators to start loading LNG on ships to free up space in its storage tanks.

Freeport, the second biggest U.S. LNG export plant, shut after a fire in June 2022.

The energy market expects gas prices NGc1 to rise once the plant starts producing LNG again.

But gas futures were trading near a 25-month low mostly because mild weather this winter has kept heating demand for the fuel low.

Federal regulators will hold a public meeting on Freeport on Feb. 11 to provide members of the community and other interested parties an opportunity to voice concerns about Freeport’s restart plans and to receive an update on what is happening at the plant.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Scott DiSavino, editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jason Neely)