Buyers Enjoying Cheaper Natural Gas Imports, Except Through California – Mexico Spotlight

Freeport LNG came back online this week, but natural gas prices remained firmly below $3.00/MMBtu.

On Thursday, the March New York Mercantile Exchange gas futures contract settled at $2.389, down 8.2 cents day/day. April shed 7.0 cents to $2.485.

Attractive pricing hasn’t led to a bump in gas imports from Mexico buyers. U.S. pipeline imports are averaging 5.3 Bcf/d so far this month, according to Wood Mackenzie. This volume represents a 2% drop from January, which at 5.4 Bcf/d, surpassed December’s import levels by 5%.

“The short-lived rebound came after a months-long downtrend that marked the second half of 2022,” Wood Mackenzie analyst Ricardo Falcón said.

Mexico imports via pipeline were 5.219 Bcf on Thursday, according to NGI calculations. This does not take...