Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices dipped this week after reaching an eight-month high, driven by a reduction in spot demand and a decline in European gas prices.
Industry sources reported that the average price for October delivery into northeast Asia was $13.80 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), down from $14.10/mmBtu the previous week.
Despite ongoing hot weather in East Asia increasing gas consumption for power generation, the elevated prices have deterred some regional importers. According to Ana Subasic, a natural gas and LNG analyst at Kpler, Asian LNG prices may continue to decline next week as price-sensitive buyers in South and Southeast Asia are likely to delay purchases until prices drop further.
Subasic noted that recent spot tenders in India and Thailand have not been successful due to the high prices.
This price drop comes even as supply disruptions occurred at Australia’s Ichthys LNG plant in Darwin, marking its second outage within a month.
In Europe, the North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price benchmark for October cargoes was assessed at $12.047/mmBtu by S&P Global Commodity Insights, slightly below the Dutch TTF hub’s gas price. Other assessments placed the price around $12.00/mmBtu.
European gas prices also eased on Friday amid cooler temperatures and strong renewable energy generation, reducing the need for gas-fired power.
Meanwhile, U.S. feedgas flows remained stable, with the Corpus Christi Stage 3 and Plaquemines terminals moving closer to receiving their first feedgas and commencing LNG production.
On the freight front, Atlantic LNG shipping rates fell for the second consecutive week, dropping to $61,500 per day, while Pacific rates also declined to $78,750 per day.
