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Asia spot prices supported by Freeport LNG interruption, summer demand

Asian area melted gas (LNG) costs held constant this week on the back of assistance from an outage at U.S. Freeport LNG which saw some cargo cancellations, and as summertime weather condition enhanced demand.

The average LNG price for September delivery into north-east Asia << LNG-AS > was at $12.20 per million British thermal units ( mmBtu), market sources approximated.

Freeport LNG in Texas, south of Houston, stopped operations on July 7 before Hurricane Beryl made landfall, triggering power failures and facilities damage to ports and energy business.

Freeport stated on Monday it planned to restart one processing train today and the remaining two trains quickly after, but production would be lowered while it continued repair work. Feedgas to the facility increased on Thursday however vessel loading has not resumed, resulting in an increasing variety of LNG tankers waiting to load.

Experts say the LNG exporter has actually cancelled between 7-10 freights as an outcome.

About a month's worth of production ... has actually been gotten of the marketplace through freight cancellations, which has supported costs in current days, said Martin Senior, deputy head of LNG rates at Argus.

While it has affected spot costs, Freeport's failure is anticipated to be a quick one without causing significant shifts in market fundamentals, said Siamak Adibi, director for gas and LNG supply analytics at consultancy FGE.

As long as storage levels remain healthy in Europe and European need does not increase drastically, quick interruptions like the one in Freeport can be handled by swings from other providers. For example, Norwegian pipeline supply can increase and fill the space when required for now, he stated.

The concern is for how long these interruptions continue and when they may occur again ... These events can have very effective effects if they take place in winter when withdrawals from storage in Europe boost drastically.

Summer season demand has likewise seen some importers seeking freights for August and September delivery, stated Rystad Energy expert Wei Xiong in a note. Purchasers included Japan's JERA, Tohoku Electric and Kansai Electric, and India's GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation and Gujarat State Petroleum.

Thailand's PTT and South Korea's Korea Midland Power also issued tenders looking for LNG supply.

In Europe, gas costs held constant amid strong stocks and expectations of a pick up in wind speeds towards the weekend.

S&P Global Commodity Insights examined its everyday North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price standard for freights delivered in September on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $10.542/ mmBtu on July 18, a $0.15/ mmBtu discount rate to the September gas price at the Dutch TTF hub.

Argus assessed the September delivery cost at $10.55/ mmBtu,. while Spark Commodities examined the August delivery cost at. $ 10.297/ mmBtu.

On LNG freight, Atlantic rates fell to $79,250/ day on. Friday, said Glow Commodities expert Qasim Afghan. Pacific. rates however increased to $67,250/ day.

(source: Reuters)