Freeport LNG accounts for one-fifth of US liquefied natural gas exports. The facility is now forced to stay closed for several weeks after a fire in the area.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has already caused great waves in the European energy market. The situation is now escalating further after one of the USA’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) was forced to take a long production break.
It was on Wednesday, June 8, that an explosion occurred at Freeport LNG’s facility in Quintana, a few miles south of Huston, Texas.
A fire must have occurred in the system that delivers liquefied natural gas to the plant’s terminal, but the cause of the fire is not yet known, reports NPR.
Shortly after the accident, Freeport announced that the facility must be closed for at least three weeks. This has major consequences for European countries trying to replace Russian gas.
Been in the Freeport area all day for an “incident” at LNG facility on Quintana Island. Freeport PD and witnesses say no doubt about it: it was an explosion. The fire / release has been contained and employees are accounted for. Investigation underway. pic.twitter.com/8wuGEGazb2
– Erica Simon (@ EricaOnABC13) June 8, 2022
Can lead to severe a severe winter
The United States is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, and around one-fifth of that export comes from Freeport’s Texas facility. Most of that gas ended up in Europe during the spring, according to the news agency Reuters.
Several news media are already reporting on higher gas prices in Europe, and if the problems at Freeport LNG persist, there is a risk that the energy situation in Europe will worsen further during the autumn and winter. Not least because there is a great risk of unusually bad weather in the Gulf of Mexico later this year, which makes it difficult to transport ships, says Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resource issues at the consulting firm Eurasia Group to CNN.
– If the interruption at Freeport becomes longer and the weather forecasts for hurricanes become reality during the very months that Europe tries to fill the barns with LNG imports before the winter and to prepare for problems with Russia’s gas pipelines, then it can be problematic in Europe, says Henning Gloystein to CNN.
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