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.
Global LNG: Asian spot LNG price flat on weak demand during China holiday
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.
In Europe, S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed its daily North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price benchmark for cargoes delivered in November on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $12.635/mmBtu on Oct. 10, a $0.21/mmBtu discount to the November gas price at the Dutch TTF hub.
Argus assessed the price for November delivery at $12.610/mmBtu, while Spark Commodities assessed it at $12.649/mmBtu.
“Prices in both key demand markets had been sliding… But a sharp rise in European DES markets on Thursday wiped losses on the week,” said Samuel Good, head of LNG pricing at commodity pricing agency Argus.
“Europe’s gains on Thursday came from multiple drivers, not least further extensions to Norwegian gas maintenance on the day which is set to slow the ramping up of pipeline gas deliveries to the region as it steps further into winter and towards the peak heating demand period.”
In LNG freight, Atlantic prices fell for a third straight week to $45,000/day on Friday, while Pacific rates also declined to $52,250/day, said Spark Commodities analyst Qasim Afghan.