The problems with the gas supply are mounting. Due to the 60 percent cut in Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the supply for next winter is already critical. Now, however, even less LNG is coming from the USA, as an LNG terminal there has burnt down.
LNG terminal on the Gulf of Mexico explodes
A large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) production plant in Texas is out of action for several weeks, if not months, after an explosion and resulting major fire. According to the operator of the plant on the Gulf of Mexico, Freeport, there were at least no injuries in the explosion and fire. The fire has since been brought under control, but the damage still has far-reaching consequences. The failure of the terminal further exacerbates the already tight gas supply worldwide. The price of gas will also continue to rise due to the outage.
According to reports so far, the explosion was triggered by a rupture in a pipeline. An anchored LNG tanker was moved to a safe distance just in time. The operator of the LNG plant, Freeport , has an annual capacity of 15 million tonnes. The affected plant supplies liquefied natural gas to BP, Jera, Kansai Electric, Osaka Gas, SK E&S and Total. Freeport says the outage will completely cancel at least 40 planned shipments of about three million tonnes of LNG. However, experts assume that the plant will not be able to produce at full capacity again until the end of the year.
Affected companies must buy LNG on the spot market – gas price continues to rise
The affected companies must now look for replacements on the spot market. However, the supply there is low due to the tense global situation and therefore also extremely expensive. Due to the terminal’s failure, experts expect that competition between Europe and Asia will now also become tougher on the gas market. This will drive gas prices even higher in the foreseeable future.
Supply situation for coming winter becomes increasingly critical
After the curtailment of Russian supply volumes, the failure of the Texas LNG terminal is likely to further exacerbate the supply situation. It is already foreseeable that the filling levels of the gas storage facilities will not reach the legal requirements for autumn. This is another reason why Habeck is calling on the population to save energy and wants to enforce this by law if necessary.