Just to follow up on this story from yesterday about the Freeport LNG fuel-export terminal on Quintana Island, Texas and how it won’t be back fully until late 2022, thus raising natural gas prices in Europe while lowering them in the U.S. . . .
U.S. natural-gas prices take a major nosedive after a fire damaged a Texas LNG export terminal https://t.co/yNiB6Y9C1w
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 15, 2022
. . .natural gas prices in Europe continue to soar this week:
Benchmark European natural gas price (Dutch TTF) is up >50% over the last three days | #ONGT #Russia
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) June 16, 2022
And “benchmark natural gas prices have now risen about **70%** so far **this week**”:
If you're wondering how Europe's energy crisis is going:
Benchmark natural gas prices have now risen about **70%** so far **this week** #ONGT pic.twitter.com/Y0QgPNIvwk
— Helen Robertson (@HelenCRobertson) June 16, 2022
Russia, as you might expect, is taking full advantage of the situation:
Russian gas supply to Europe fell further on Thursday, sparking concerns about refilling storage for winter and igniting a diplomatic tussle as Russian supplier Gazprom blamed Western sanctions for hampering maintenance work https://t.co/Wvsr9xrOUn pic.twitter.com/9iNTvw3K8a
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 16, 2022
You know, maybe our NATO ally Germany shouldn’t have relied so much on NATO rival Russia for its energy needs in the first place?
— Helen Robertson (@HelenCRobertson) June 16, 2022
It sounds like it will be a long winter, Germany:
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Germany’s top energy regulator is urging consumers and industry to curb gas consumption to help fill storage sites after Russia curtailed deliveries https://t.co/QUM50LWbFH#ONGT
— Helen Robertson (@HelenCRobertson) June 16, 2022
But it’s not just the export of LNG out of the United States that fueling inflation here at home. We’re exporting refined fuel products, too:
High U.S. fuel exports are helping push gasoline prices to $5 a gallon, draining already low inventories and squeezing consumers and companies https://t.co/la33iMVJDY
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 16, 2022
From the WSJ:
A rapid rise in American fuel exports this year has helped push gasoline prices to a record $5 a gallon and is pressuring U.S. prices of natural gas, which hit the highest levels in over a decade earlier this month.
In recent months, companies and commodities traders have shipped more U.S. gasoline and diesel to Latin America and other foreign markets, reaping higher prices than the fuel could fetch domestically. They have also sent more liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The jumps in fuel shipments abroad are further draining U.S. inventories that were already languishing at low levels after output cuts during the worst of the pandemic. Now, American oil-and-gas producers and refiners are struggling to keep up with resurgent demand.
In the past, exporting hasn’t been an issue. But now it is:
U.S. exports have had little effect on domestic prices in recent years, as the country enjoyed plentiful supplies lifted by the fracking boom. But the rise in shipments comes as inventories of crude oil and petroleum products have fallen to the lowest levels since 2008. At that time, exports of refined fuels were much lower, and U.S. companies hadn’t yet built major LNG export facilities.
These unusual circumstances are for the first time causing exports to substantially affect what Americans pay for gasoline and natural gas, which makes it costlier to provide heat and electricity to homes, analysts said.
Over to you, President Biden. Is it time to halt exports?
The President has the authority to halt exports for a year – Biden needs to notice the declaration in the Federal Register and start protecting American families https://t.co/h77gN8tRYg
— Tyson Slocum (@TysonSlocum) June 16, 2022
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