NGPL declares force majeure on Louisiana Sabine Pass gas flows after storms

Kinder Morgan Inc’s Natural Gas Pipeline Co of America (NGPL) subsidiary said that no transport services would be available at the Sabine Pass delivery point in Louisiana after severe storms damaged the pipeline in that area.

Officials at Cheniere Energy Inc, which owns the Sabine Pass LNG export plant, said the pipeline event had no impact on operations at its facility.

NGPL said in its notice to customers on Wednesday that this was a “force majeure” event and the pipe has “experienced damage related to severe storms at the ... Sabine Pass delivery point ... that requires immediate investigation and repairs.”

“Until further notice, no transport services are available at this location,” NGPL said.

Officials at Kinder Morgan could not immediately comment.

Analysts at IHS Markit PointLogic said flows through the NGPL Sabine Pass delivery point went from about 0.6 bcfd to zero. One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.

Even though government steps to stop the spread of coronavirus have reduced gas use around the world, exports from Sabine Pass and other U.S. LNG export terminals was still expected to hit an annual average record high in 2020 for a fifth year in a row.

Analysts, however, noted the pace of that export growth was expected to be slower than what they projected before the pandemic cut global economic growth and energy demand.

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