Cove Point LNG Outage to Cut Appalachian Gas Demand by 850 MMcf/d

The Cove Point LNG facility in Maryland will undergo annual maintenance starting September 19, potentially reducing Appalachian natural gas demand by around 850 million cubic feet per day for up to three weeks.

This decrease in feedgas demand comes as the fall shoulder season is expected to weigh on power demand. The outage patterns suggest that past outages have cut feedgas to approximately 15,000 decatherms per day, which is a relatively small amount compared to the overall demand.

The storage levels in the East are currently 6% above their five-year average, indicating some excess capacity to absorb the potential reduction in supply. However, this reduction could still impact natural gas prices and the market dynamics in Appalachia.