- This week, spot charter rates for the global LNG carrier fleet remained largely unchanged.
- The Spark30S Atlantic spot rate increasing slightly by $750 per day to $42,750 per day, and the Spark25S Pacific rate holding steady at $45,750 per day.
- Rates have stayed within a narrow range of $2,000 per day since early April for both basins.
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG front month price for June delivery dropped to $9.451/MMBtu, with a discount of $0.185/MMBtu to the Dutch TTF. This represents a decrease of $0.097/MMBtu from the previous week and a $0.015/MMBtu narrowing of the discount to TTF. The decline is attributed to reduced European regasification demand as US cargoes are redirected to Asia due to higher prices there.
Rising Gas Storage Levels in Europe
European gas storage levels increased, reaching 66.06% full on May 15, up from 62.94% the previous week. This is also higher compared to the same period last year, which saw storage levels at 64.07%.
JKM Prices in Asia
In Asia, the JKM price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia for July settled at $11.045/MMBtu, up from the previous week. June JKM settled at $10.469/MMBtu, reflecting a slight increase. JOGMEC reported that JKM decreased early last week due to weak demand and high inventories but rose later due to heatwaves in Southeast Asia and increased seasonal demand.
Freeport LNG Resumes Full Operations
US LNG exports increased to 28 shipments in the week ending May 15, up from 22 the previous week. Freeport LNG resumed operations at all three of its liquefaction trains, with the plant shipping four cargoes during the period. Previously, only the third train was operational, shipping about one cargo per week.
Bintulu LNG Power Loss
Malaysian energy giant Petronas reported a power loss at its Bintulu LNG complex on May 10. Efforts to resume operations are ongoing after identifying the cause of the power loss. The complex includes multiple units, with the latest Train 9 starting operations in 2017.
Gorgon LNG Terminal Issues
One of the three trains at Chevron’s Gorgon LNG terminal in Western Australia remains offline due to a mechanical fault in a turbine discovered on April 30. Chevron expects repair activities to take several weeks, potentially keeping the 5.2 mtpa production train offline for at least five weeks.
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Source: LNGPrime
