Sept 23 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firm Berkshire Hathaway Energy shut its Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Maryland for about three weeks of annual autumn maintenance, according to a company notice to customers.

The amount of natural gas flowing to the plant, which shut around Sept. 20, fell to near zero from an average of around 0.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) since Aug. 1, according to data from financial firm LSEG.

The plant, which has the capacity to turn about 0.8 bcfd of gas into LNG, has pulled in an average of around 0.8 bcfd since it returned to service in mid October 2023 from its last autumn maintenance outage.

One billion cubic feet is enough to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.

U.S. LNG export plants typically shut for planned maintenance in the spring or autumn when global demand for gas for heating or cooling is lower than during the peak winter and summer months.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy is a unit of U.S. multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) , opens new tab.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy completed the purchase of 50% of Cove Point from Virginia energy company Dominion Energy (D.N) , opens new tab in September 2023 for about $3.3 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy operates Cove Point and owns 75% of the facility. The other 25% has been owned by units of Brookfield Asset Management .

Cove Point's LNG has been sold under 20-year agreements to a subsidiary of GAIL (India) (GAIL.NS) , opens new tab and to ST Cove Point, which is a joint venture between units of Japanese trading company Sumitomo (8053.T) , opens new tab and Tokyo Gas (9531.T) , opens new tab.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/berkshire-hathaways-maryland-cove-point-lng-export-plant-shut-maintenance-2024-09-23/