据普氏能源资讯8月12日报道，标准普尔普氏贸易流量软件CFlow周一提供的数据显示，一艘未装载液化天然气的油轮正驶向德克萨斯州Freeport终端，该码头的液化设施正准备生产和出口其第一批货物。

这艘由三井和关西电力(Kansai Electric power)共同拥有的“ Jurojin”号液化天然气船公布了其目的地，并预计将于周四抵达。

据数据显示，这艘油轮上一次在日本大岛终端卸下液化天然气是在7月19日左右，而6月20日左右在尼日利亚Bonny终端卸下了一船货物。它于周五通过巴拿马运河，并于周一向北进入墨西哥湾。

Freeport液化天然气公司发言人Heather Browne以保密为由，拒绝证实或评论这艘油轮的计划，并表示，截至周一下午早些时候，休斯顿南部出口终端的生产尚未开始，但“工作仍在继续”。上周末，由于在1号生产线启动和冷却过程中遇到气体泄漏的管道进行了维修，导致了短暂的停运之后，天然气开始重新流向该设施。

油轮通常可以根据市场和客户的需要改变目的地或调整到达时间。由于Freeport LNG的运营模式是收费模式，在该终端生产的液化天然气的买家负责向液化设施采购和交付原料天然气，以及安排运输和决定货物的交付地点。

因天气因素发生延误，该设施经历了多次施工，其中最明显的一次是在2017年8月哈维飓风引发的大雨。该设施一旦投入运营，将预示着自2016年以来，美国第六大液化天然气出口终端开始液化和出口液化天然气。

其中四家公司一直在定期出口货物，而金德摩根(Kinder Morgan)在格鲁吉亚的Elba液化公司周一继续生产第一批货物。

Freeport液化天然气一号生产线的主要长期买家是日本公用事业公司大阪燃气(Osaka Gas)和中部电力(Chubu Electric)，它们各自控制着220万吨/年的产能。此外，英国石油公司还与法国道达尔公司和韩国SK E&S公司签署了长期合同，分别为2号生产线440万吨/年和3号生产线440万吨/年的开采能力。

总而言之，长期合同涵盖了拟建1500万吨/年三条生产线产能中的约1,320万吨/年，加上额外的短期合同，包括与全球排名前三的大宗商品交易商托克签订的一份为期三年的协议，则涵盖了剩余的供应量。

王佳晶 摘译自 普氏能源资讯

原文如下：

Freeport LNG terminal could see first tanker arrive within days: cFlow

An unladen LNG tanker appeared to be headed toward the Freeport, Texas, terminal as the liquefaction facility there prepared to produce and export its first cargo, data provided by S&P Global Platts' trade flow software, cFlow, showed Monday.

The Mitsui- and Kansai Electric Power-owned LNG Jurojin listed a captain's destination of US FPO - an abbreviation for the port of Freeport -- with an estimated arrival of Thursday.

The tanker last dropped off a load of LNG at Japan's Ohgishima receiving terminal around July 19, after picking up a cargo at Nigeria's Bonny facility around June 20, cFlow data show. It passed through the Panama Canal on Friday and was heading north toward the Gulf of Mexico on Monday.

A Freeport LNG spokeswoman, Heather Browne, declined to confirm or comment on the tanker's plans, citing confidentiality.

As of early afternoon Monday, production at the export terminal south of Houston had yet to begin, though "work continues to progress," Browne said. Feedgas began flowing again to the facility over the weekend, after a brief lull due to repairs to a flare vent line that had encountered a gas leak during the startup and cool down process for Train 1.

Tankers can often change destinations or adjust the timing of arrival depending on market and customer needs. As Freeport LNG operates on a tolling model, buyers of the LNG produced there are responsible for the procurement and delivery of feedgas supply to the liquefaction facility, as well as arranging shipping and deciding where the cargoes are delivered.

The Freeport LNG facility has experienced multiple construction- and weather-related delays, most notably following heavy rain in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. Once in operation, it will be the sixth major US LNG export terminal to begin liquefying and exporting LNG since 2016.

Four have been regularly exporting cargoes, while the fifth, Kinder Morgan's Elba Liquefaction in Georgia, continued Monday to produce its first cargo. As of Monday afternoon, there were no unladen LNG tankers listing a captain's destination of the port where Elba is located, cFlow showed.

The primary long-term buyers of offtake from Freeport LNG Train 1 are Japanese utilities Osaka Gas and Chubu Electric, which each control 2.2 million mt/year of capacity. Additional long-term contracts were signed with BP for 4.4 million mt/year of offtake capacity for Train 2, and France's Total and South Korea 's SK E&S, which are splitting another 4.4 million mt/year of offtake capacity at Train 3.

In total, long-term contracts cover roughly 13.2 million mt/year of the proposed 15 million mt/year three-train facility's output, with additional short-term contracts, including a three-year deal with commodity trader Trafigura, covering the remaining supply.