U.S. New England set to get first LNG cargo since summer

(Reuters) - New England could get a load of much needed LNG for the winter heating season in coming days from a vessel full of the super-cooled fuel that is sitting in Boston Harbor.

New England depends on LNG and oil to fuel some power plants on the coldest days when most of the region's pipeline gas is used to heat homes and businesses.

About half of the power generated in New England comes from gas-fired plants.

The Cadiz Knutsen is sitting in Boston Harbor outside U.S. energy company Constellation Energy Corp's Everett LNG import terminal in Massachusetts with a cargo of LNG from Trinidad and Tobago.

That would be the first LNG vessel to visit Everett since August, according to Refinitiv data.

But with Everett competing with European buyers willing to pay around $35 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) for gas compared with just $6 in the United States, the Massachusetts port has imported only 16.7 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas as LNG during the first 10 months of this year.

That is down from 18.1 bcf during the same period in 2021 and a five-year (2017-2021) average of 33.3 bcf, according to federal energy data.

When U.S. energy company Exelon Corp owned the Everett LNG facility, Exelon said it used the terminal to import fuel for its Mystic power plant. Exelon also said it sold some LNG to utilities throughout New England to help them meet their peak demand needs.

Exelon spun off Constellation earlier this year. Officials at Constellation were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

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