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First Look - Freeport LNG considers new capacity

Oil Prices Rise on Friday Morning: WTI April contract up by 59c to $67.14/Bbl (7:45 AM CT)
- Prices climb as tightened US sanctions on Iran and Russia offset the IEA's forecast of a 2025 oversupply
- The new sanctions target Iran’s oil minister, companies, vessels, and payment options for Russian energy
- Friday's uptick could prevent WTI from logging an eighth consecutive weekly decline, marking its longest losing streak since August
Canada’s Oil Market Strengthens Despite US Tariff Threat:
- The Heavy Western Canadian Select discount to WTI narrows to $10.65/Bbl, the tightest since July 2023, due to record-low inventory levels (Bloomberg)
- Stockpiles decline as oil sands producers prepare for production cuts starting in April for maintenance
- The Trans Mountain pipeline is set to export a record 425 MBbl/d of oil by tanker this month (Vortexa)

Natural gas prices are trading lower and heading for a substantial weekly loss
- The April NYMEX contract is lower by more than 45c this week, as prices give up gains from last week
- Yesterday, the EIA reported a -62 Bcf withdrawal from storage, with US inventories likely to start the injection season in the next few weeks
Freeport LNG is considering adding additional capacity (BBG)
- The CEO of Freeport LNG said that additional production capacity could be added during summertime maintenance operations
- Last year, Freeport completed a debottlenecking operation, which increased production by 6%
- Similar tweaks could be made this year, although Freeport did not provide an estimate for how much additional capacity it could lead to
Coal generation rises amid high gas prices (BBG)
- Bloomberg is forecasting stronger coal generation this summer, with the natural gas forward curve rising to a level that would incentivize gas to coal switching
- While power demand is expected to climb by 1% this summer, Bloomberg estimates that average gas burns will fall 3% year-on-year, driven by higher coal and renewables output