UK South Hook May LNG regasification down 46% on five-year average
The amount of natural gas supply from the UK’s South Hook LNG terminal last month was almost 50% lower than the five-year average for the month of May, data from National Grid showed Friday.
A total of 691 million cu m of regasification was seen from the terminal in south Wales last month, well down on the 1.12 Bcm from May 2016 and the five-year average of 1.29 Bcm for May.
A total of four Qatari LNG tankers berthed at South Hook last month in comparison to seven in May 2016 and eight in May 2015, as Qatar — the world’s largest LNG producing country — sent more cargoes elsewhere due to weak NBP pricing compared to other European hubs.
“Qatar has taken steps to reduce deliveries into the UK against using more their put options in Continental Europe,” an LNG source said. “We’re still expecting three Q-Max tankers to arrive in June in the UK which would help replenish stocks.”
The three Qatari LNG cargoes en route to South Hook are the Rasheeda, due June 3, the Al Mafyar, due June 20, and the Zarga, due June 28.
This is on par with the three Qatari LNG cargoes that arrived during June 2016 but well below the six in June 2015 and the eight in June 2014.
South Hook stocks began June at 90 million cu m of natural gas equivalent, a mere 18% capacity, according to Grid data.
Last month, a total of 19 Qatari LNG tankers berthed at LNG terminals in Continental Europe (eight to Italy, four to Spain, three to France, two to the Netherlands, and one each to Belgium and Poland) in comparison to 15 in April and 11 in May 2016 according to Platts Analytics’ Eclipse Energy.
With regas levels from South Hook having fallen to 7 million cu m Thursday and running at a mere 5 million cu m/d Friday morning, regas levels this month look set to remain well below the five-year average of 953 million cu m for the month of June.