Asia spot prices buoyed by hot summer weather forecasts
By Emily Chow
SINGAPORE, June 28 (Reuters) -Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices held steady this week as forecasts of higher temperatures during the summer months in the northern hemisphere kept demand elevated for electricity used for cooling purposes.
The average LNG price for August delivery into north-east Asia LNG-AS was at $12.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), industry sources estimated, slightly down from $12.60/mmBtu the previous week.
Cooling power demand continues to underpin northeast Asian LNG demand, said Samuel Good, head of LNG pricing at commodity pricing agency Argus, adding that Asian buyers have been seeking late summer cargo deliveries.
Japanese importers have been seeking spot cargoes this week, with Kansai Electric seeking a late July or early August delivery, while another Japanese utility was considering a cargo for September delivery, said Rystad Energy senior analyst Masanori Odaka.
"Asia remains the preferred destination for U.S. free-on-board (FOB) LNG cargoes as the arbitrage remains open in June for August and September delivery."
LNG stocks held by Japan's major electricity utilities, a key and the most recent indicator of the stockpile level, was last at 2.08 million metric tons as of June 23, down from 2.14 million metric tons a week ago, according to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Demand from Chinese importers however is not expected to be as strong as in the first half of the year when spot prices were below $10/mmBtu, added Odaka.
"China now has much more contracted volume, which makes it less necessary to scramble for spot volume," he said.
On the supply side, Chevron CVX.N said at the start of the week it had resumed full LNG and domestic gas production rates at its Wheatstone gas facility in Australia. The company had suspended output on June 10 to complete repairs to the facility's fuel gas system.
In Europe, S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed its daily northwest Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price benchmark for cargoes delivered in August on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $10.858/mmBtu on June 27, a $0.50/mmBtu premium to the August gas price at the Dutch TTF hub.
Argus assessed the August delivery price at $10.750/mmBtu, while Spark Commodities assessed the July delivery price at $10.731/mmBtu.
Europe gas prices last edged lower on Friday amid strong LNG supplies, but remained supported by ongoing supply concerns about a possible cut-off in Russian gas supplies via Ukraine. NG/EU
Egypt had fully awarded 20 LNG cargoes in its latest tender, its biggest purchase of the fuel to cover heavy summer demand from July through September, trade sources said. The cargoes were awarded mainly to trading houses including TotalEnergies, Vitol and Trafigura.
Meanwhile, LNG freight rates in the Atlantic continued experiencing record weekly gains, rising by $12,000 to $87,000/day on Friday, said Spark Commodities analyst Qasim Afghan. Pacific rates are also starting to increase, he said, gaining $4,000 to $51,750/day.
Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Vijay Kishore
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