By Scott DiSavino and Arathy Somasekhar
NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Freeport LNG plans to restart one of three liquefied natural gas trains this week at its Texas facility after the company repairs some damage from Hurricane Beryl, it said on Monday.
The plant, in Freeport, Texas, south of Houston, halted operations on July 7 before Beryl hit the coast, causing widespread power outages and wind damage.
The LNG exporter plans to restart the remaining two trains shortly after the first resumes operation, but production will be reduced while it continues repairs.
The second-largest U.S. LNG exporter said in a statement that output would "steadily ramp up to full rates as these repairs are completed."
Each of Freeport's three liquefaction trains can turn about 0.7 bcfd of gas into LNG. One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
Freeport is one of the most-watched U.S. LNG export plants because it has a history of hitting global gas prices when it shuts due to the decreased demand. [NGA/] [NG/EU]
Since Freeport shut, U.S. gas futures have declined by about 2% to a two-month low of $2.26 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). [NGA/]
The amount of natural gas flowing to Freeport was on track to reach about 0.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) on Monday, up from near zero July 7-14, according to LSEG data.
Energy traders, however, noted that Freeport was also on track to pull in similar amounts of gas late last week but ended up actually accepted almost no gas.
In the week before Freeport shut, the 2.1-bcfd plant was pulling in an average 1.7 bcfd of gas, according to LSEG data.
The Brazos Pilots Association, which services ships in the port, said the Freeport LNG terminal was still closed and there were draft restrictions in place.