SINGAPORE- Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices held steady for a second consecutive week, as some summer demand kept prices from sliding in an overall tepid market.
The average LNG price for August delivery into north-east Asia LNG-AS was at $12 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), industry sources estimated. It earlier fell to $9/mmBtu on slow demand and high inventories, before rising to a three-month high in mid-June, tracking gains in Europe gas prices.
“Asian LNG prices are holding steady as summer cooling demand is still supporting the regional benchmark,” said Ryhana Rasidi, LNG analyst at data firm Kpler, adding that some restocking activity is expected in the coming weeks in countries like Japan.
“Lately, Japanese LNG stocks held by power utilities have fallen below year-ago levels for the time of year – moving it closer to the five-year average but nonetheless still above it.”
While spot buying is still there for some utilities in North Asia that have been soaking up marginal demand with the heatwave, sentiment overall is weak near-term, said Toby Copson, global head of trading at Trident LNG.
“The market is active, just not on a spot basis, the focus as of late has been around new long-term contract bookings,” he said.
China’s Zhejiang Energy inked a 20-year deal with Mexico Pacific Ltd to receive one million tons of LNG annually from 2027, while PetroVietnam Gas said it is in separate talks with US energy giant ExxonMobil and Russia’s Novatek on LNG cooperation. – Reuters
