Floating LNG Near Europe Started Unloading Amid Net Storage Withdrawals

LNG cargoes floating off European coasts have started to unload in November, as the gas storage withdrawal season has started, traders told S&P Commodity Insights.

• Global LNG on water volumes were estimated at around 27bcm as of the start of November, down by 1.4bcm from October, as volumes are started to offload according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.
• Bloomberg estimated global LNG tankers on water for at least 20 days at 4.84mn tons as of 12 November, up from 4.55mn tons a week earlier.
• Nearly 9bcm of floating volumes are originated from the US, up by 1.1bcm on the year.
• EU gas stocks started net storage withdrawals last week and resumed this week. EU gas stocks stood at 99.42% of capacity as of 13 November, GIE data showed.
• An Atlantic-based trader attributed the unwinding of floating storage into European markets to the rise of nearly a dollar in NWE LNG prices on 9 November.
• "The jump in prices triggered companies to get rid of volumes as they expect prices to go down again," the trader said.
• Likewise, as more LNG is offloaded in Europe, this has widened Northwest European LNG's discount to the Dutch TTF natural gas hub price due to "too much LNG at terminals," another trader said.
• NWE has also reached its widest discount to the Dutch TTF in nine weeks. December NWE was assessed at a $1.10/MMBtu discount to TTF on 14 November, the widest the discount has been since 19 September, Platts assessed.
• "Floating storage has started to unwind, but available tonnage is still pretty tight," S&P Global Commodity Insights analyst Andres Rojas said.