SINGAPORE- Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) slightly slipped this week as demand remains tepid amid ample supplies.
The average LNG price for November delivery into north-east Asia was at $13.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), industry sources estimated, down from $13.10/mmBtu last week.
The price for December delivery was estimated at $13.30/mmBtu.
“Asia spot prices have held steady week-on-week (though) decreasing slightly,” said Go Katayama, LNG and natural gas analyst at Kpler.
“The slight decline was driven by receding geopolitical tensions and ample LNG supply to Asia.”
Oil prices had eased on Tuesday on news of a possible ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, though Israeli strikes killed 22 people and injured over 100 in Beirut on Thursday.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
On LNG supply, train 2 at Australia’s Ichthys LNG restarted operations this week. It was previously taken offline in August for inspection and repairs.
However, two trade sources said two production trains at Petronas’ Bintulu LNG Complex in east Malaysia are offline, with one of them adding that trains 7 and 8 at the MLNG Tiga production facility are the affected ones.
Petronas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Japan, Kansai Electric Power will shut the No.3 reactor at its Mihama nuclear power station after discovering two small holes in a pipeline, and Shikoku Electric Power shut the Ikata No. 3 reactor due to a malfunction in the equipment used to monitor fuel combustion.
Nuclear reactor shutdowns could lead to an increase in LNG demand to fulfill power requirements in Japan.
