LNG on Tankers At Sea Increasing

LNG on tankers at sea is increasing with port congestion in Europe, high inventories after a mild winter and muted demand in Asia.

• Nearly 3m metric tons of LNG is on tankers on the water for more than 20 days, the most since December and well above last year according to Bloomberg.
• Lower gas prices in Asia have encouraged some price-sensitive buyers in South Asia. Thailand PTT purchased seven cargoes for May to Sep delivery on a DES basis at about 11$/mmbtu for May and 13$/mmbtu after July.
• Demand for LNG in Asia however remains weak with LNG from flexible producers such as the US lingering in Europe waiting for buyers and encouraged by quite low prompt freight rates in the Atlantic Basin according to Energy Aspects.
• The JKM-TTF spread has closed slightly in the last couple of days but TTF remains above JKM throughout the rest of 2023.
  • TTF MAY 23 down -2.2% at 41.16€/MWh
  • JKM May 23 down -3% at 12.2$/mmbtu
  • JKM-TTF May 23 up 0.3$/mmbtu at -0.71$/mmbtu
  • US Natgas MAY 23 up 1.2% at 2.03$/mmbtu

Source: Bloomberg