LNG DEVELOPMENT:
· Global LNG-Prices slide as supplies emerge from key regions
· Asia LNG spot prices plummet 20% since start of year
· Asia prices hit parity with British gas benchmark
- LNG imports in Turkey projected to reach 9 MMT by 2025 says TechSci Research Report
- Excelerate Energy to install second FSRU in Port Qasim Pakistan
- Pakistan: 1st private LNG terminal to be operational by 2018
- Argentina awards most of LNG tender to Trafigura–trade
- Myanmar LNG import tender could launch by end April amid wide interest: law firm
· Egypt to import LNG with an eye on self-sufficiency in 2018
· US set to overtake Australia in LNG exports
· U.K. to get first LNG from Peru while still waiting for U.S.
Global LNG-Prices slide as supplies emerge from key regions
Asian spot prices for LNG delivery in March fell during the week ended Feb. 10 on weak demand and steady supplies despite loading disruptions caused by bad weather at some Australian ports.Companies including U.S. LNG producer Cheniere Energy and Royal Dutch Shell were said by traders to be offering several cargoes over coming months, helping accelerate a downward trend in spot prices since January.
Spot prices for March delivery were seen at around $7.20 per MMBtu, 30 cents below the last assessment level, while April prices dipped below the $7 per MMBtu mark, traders said.In one of the biggest tender awards so far in 2017, Argentina filled requirements for 16 shipments over April-August, awarding 11 to Trafigura, three to Glencore and two to Cheniere.The transactions were done at a premium to gas prices at the UK’s National Balancing Point (NBP) trading hub, varying in size depending on which of Argentina’s terminals the gas would be delivered to, they said.Deliveries to Argentina’s Bahia Blanca terminal, for example, show a 30-40 cent premium to NBP, some sources said.April gas prices at the NBP currently traded around $6.40 per MMBtu.Loading of cargoes from Australia’s North West Shelf (NWS) liquefaction plant were briefly halted due to bad weather last week, shrugged off by traders as a fleeting hindrance.
Thailand’s state-owned oil and gas firm PTT is seeking an LNG shipment for the second half of March via a tender which will close on Feb. 15. The Thai firm was looking for a “wide spec” LNG cargo that means offers for lean or slightly-rich gas will be considered.Meanwhile, Britain is to take in its first-ever LNG from Peru later this month as converging prices between the two global benchmarks – the UK’s NBP gas trading hub and Asian spot prices – made it more attractive to offload cargoes in Europe.
Source: LNG Global
Asia LNG spot prices plummet 20% since start of year
Spot prices for LNG have fallen nearly 20% in Asian markets since early January as production problems in Australia clear up and more processing facilities get ready to come online.The spot price is currently around $8 per MMBtu. Prices surged sharply starting in November 2016 to around $9.75 in early January, the highest level in two years. An outage at a facility in Australia, estimated to turn out 5 MMT of LNG a year, and a temporary shutdown of nuclear reactors at power plants in South Korea following an earthquake contributed to the spike. With such issues fading, supply anxieties are easing.Furthermore, a number of new LNG projects are slated to come on-stream in the U.S. and Australia in 2017. Worldwide, LNG production is projected to climb by 100 million tons by 2020 or so — the equivalent of 40% of 2015 transaction volume.Japanese power companies typically purchase LNG under long-term contracts linked to the price of crude oil, but in recent years many have increased procurement in the spot market. Power rates are also set based on fluctuations in fuel costs. While long-term contact prices have been elevated due to higher crude oil prices, increased spot procurement at low prices could help rein in costs and keep power bills low, at least in the short term.Few expect spot prices to only go down, however. Takayuki Nogami, chief economist at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., estimates that long-term contracts based on current crude oil prices will be around $8 per MMBtu.Power demand is rising in emerging nations accompanying economic growth. Inquiries from India are particularly strong, with one major trading company reporting some contracts signed at around $9. As such, few in the market anticipate LNG spot prices falling to the $5 range seen before the most recent surge.
Source: LNG Global
Asia prices hit parity with British gas benchmark
Asian spot prices for LNG delivery in March fell to parity with European gas benchmarks on Friday ( February 3), while importers in India, Thailand and Mexico finalized purchases amid healthy supply.Traders said Asian prices for March delivery fell 25 cents to about $7.50 per MMBtu, matching the UK’s National Balancing Point trading hub levels.Qatar’s liquefaction Train 7 – previously idled for maintenance – resumed production, raising the possibility of more frequent deliveries to Britain from the second-half of March and April, one trader said.However, other sources told Reuters that Train 7 may be due to shut down again in March.Meanwhile, Australia’s AP LNG project is expected to idle half a train’s output towards the end of February.But output from the giant Gorgon project was steady, with plant operator Chevron readying to bring a third production line on-stream early in the second-quarter.Despite colder-than-average forecasts for the next 45-days in South Korea’s capital Seoul, which is also a major LNG importer, traders said a combination of pre-Christmas buying, stored reserves and returning nuclear reactors has kept Korea Gas Corp out of the spot market.Traders said they had heard Gail India had bought supplies in the low $8 per MMBtu range, while Thailand’s PTT bought a cargo in the high $7 per MMBtu level, possibly from Chevron.In the Atlantic, Vitol bought a tender cargo from Angola for delivery to Europe, but looks to be in talks to swap it for a different destination, possibly Egypt, one trader said.
Mexico also purchased two cargoes for February delivery. Steady cargo demand was seen coming from Spain.Around six shipments are due to arrive at the Fos terminal in southern France over the coming weeks, alleviating tight gas markets which followed an outage at an Algerian export facility.
Source: LNG Global
LNG imports in Turkey projected to reach 9 MMT by 2025 says TechSci Research Report
Rising demand from industrial sector, growing use for power generation and declining average landed prices to drive demand for LNG in Turkey through 2025.According to TechSci Research report, LNG Imports in the country is projected to surpass 9 MMT by 2025. Increasing application of LNG in industrial sector for manufacturing of glass, ceramics, fertilizer, cement and steel, coupled with rising mining activity for chrome and copper are the major factors driving demand for LNG in Turkey. The rising use of LNG as an alternate power source and increasing capacity addition in gas based power plants are the major factors anticipated to fuel demand for LNG in Turkey during 2016 – 2025.In 2015, industrial sector was the leading end use sector for LNG in Turkey, and the same trend is anticipated to continue in the coming years as well, due to rising application of LNG in manufacturing of glass, ceramics, fertilizer, cement, steel, etc.“Declining domestic production and imports of natural gas from Russia, coupled with continuously rising demand for natural gas from various end use sector are the major factors widening demand-supply gap of LNG in Turkey. However, supply of LNG from Algeria, United States and Qatar are anticipated to increase in the coming years.