Greek vessel to carry first fuel from new Louisiana LNG plant

A liquefied natural gas tanker that has been docked at Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass export terminal in Louisiana since early February is nearly loaded, according to gas supply data, and preparing join a stream of US LNG tankers heading to Europe.

The expected departure of the Greek-flagged tanker Yiannis comes as demand and prices for LNG have soared.

An armada of tankers carrying US LNG has been flowing to Europe to ease shortages stemming from lower production and reduced pipeline flows.

The new plant has cranked up its processing, taking a high of nearly 500 million cubic feet of gas on Thursday, indicating “operations are running well,” according to Matt Murphy, an analyst at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.

The Yiannis is signaling an early March arrival in Dunkirk, France, with a cargo of about 153,900 cubic meters of LNG, Refinitiv vessel tracking data showed.

A Venture Global spokesperson declined to comment on the vessel’s loading or expected departure.

JERA Co, Japan’s biggest power generator and one of the world’s top buyers of LNG, has chartered the vessel, energy traders said. [Reuters]