KUALA LUMPUR: Liquefaction outages in Asia and Europe have not been sufficient to significantly raise gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, according to Rystad Energy.
In a note recently, the energy consultancy said spot prices remain significantly higher than long-term LNG contract levels despite the non-peak gas consumption season.
According to Rystad Energy, Asian LNG prices for June — the new front-month price since April 16 — fell to around US$12 per metric million British thermal unit (MMBtu), despite several production outages in the region.
Derivatives for both July and August fell 3.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent week-on-week, respectively, it said.
“Chevron-operated Wheatstone is currently undergoing planned maintenance at one train that is expected to last for a week.
“Malaysia LNG’s Satu and Dua projects are producing less than capacity due to technical problems, although operator Petronas has been trying to resume production since April 18,” it said.
Meanwhile, Rystad Energy said the United States (US) trade representative announced additional port fees on Chinese vessel owners and operators when loading, although LNG vessels may be an exception for most of this year.
“If additional port fee costs are applied to LNG vessels, Chinese vessels are likely to be diverted from US LNG projects, which means that the Atlantic Basin may gradually have less shipping availability relative to that of Asia,” it added. – BERNAMA
