Sabine Pass and Cameron, two LNG liquefaction and export terminals in Louisiana affected by Hurricane Laura, have resumed exports. Exports from Sabine Pass, the largest LNG export facility in the US, resumed Sept. 11. However, damage to the electrical and marine infrastructure around the Cameron LNG facility has persisted for several weeks, delaying its first shipment of post-Hurricane Laura cargo to Oct. 5.
Hurricane Delta, a Category 4 storm in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to make landfall in Louisiana on Friday, Oct. 9 (OGJ Online, Oct. 7, 2020). Depending on its path, Cameron and Sabine Pass may take precautionary measures, temporarily suspending operations as they did before Hurricane Laura, the US Energy Information Administration said.
Natural gas deliveries to the Sabine Pass terminal to be liquefied for shipping resumed Sept. 2, according to Genscape (a Wood Mackenzie business), and the facility shipped its first post-hurricane cargo on Sept. 11, 2 weeks after the storm. The Sabine Pass terminal, near the Texas-Louisiana border, is powered by onsite, natural gas-fired electricity generators.
Cameron LNG terminal, east of Sabine Pass on Calcasieu Lake, purchases electricity from the local electric utility, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana. Some 93,000 customers in southern Louisiana, including the Cameron LNG facility, were left without power after Hurricane Laura made landfall and damaged electricity transmission infrastructure.
According to a press release from Cameron LNG, Entergy restored electric power to Cameron LNG Sept. 18, and natural gas deliveries to the facility resumed Sept. 27. However, the Calcasieu Ship Channel, a waterway between the terminal and the Gulf of Mexico, was partially blocked and had to be dredged to accommodate the passage of large vessels, including LNG vessels with a 40-ft draft. Dredging activities are scheduled to be completed by Oct. 10.
The Cameron LNG facility is now testing equipment, and natural gas feedstock deliveries to the terminal have been gradually increasing, averaging 450 MMcfd on Oct. 5. An LNG vessel loaded a cargo from Cameron’s LNG storage tanks on Oct. 4 and departed the facility Oct. 5, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg.
