Natural Gas End of Day Summary: Henry Hub Claws Back

Henry Hub is heading towards US close rebound after recouping earlier losses. Increasing LNG feedgas adds support while milder weather and healthy storage levels provide downside.

• US Natgas FEB 24 unchanged at 2.42$/mmbtu
• Domestic natural gas demand is back down below the five-year average for the first time since Dec 27 with today estimated at 99.2bcf/d according to Bloomberg.
• Feedgas supplies to US LNG export terminals continue to gradually rebound up to 14.0bcf/d today but still limited by below normal flows to the Freeport LNG terminal.
• US domestic dry gas production is unchanged on the day at around 101.3bcf/d.
• Freeport’s LNG train 2 was restarted Jan. 22 after tripping offline, according to Bloomberg, citing a filing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
• The US LNG arb for sending cargoes to Northeast Asia via the Cape of Good Hope or Suez is at breakeven level for the first time since September 2023 according to Spark Commodities.
• The combined fleet and orderbook of large LNG ships (60,000+ cu m) rose to 1,000 vessels for the first time in Q4 2023 according to MSI.
• China’s natural gas demand during summer 2024 – April until September – is expected to increase 6.7% year on year to 194.9bcm, according to BNEF.
• Russia’s Sakhalin Energy wants to raise long term LNG contract prices for Asian buyers according to Bloomberg reports.
• Russia's Novatek is on track to complete the second train of the Arctic LNG 2 project in 2024 according to High North News.