Asian LNG prices at more than seven-month high amid supply issues

Asian spot LNG prices rose this week as there were supply issues in Australia and the United States, while several buyers were looking for cargoes. The average LNG price for October delivery into northeast Asia LNG-AS was estimated at $4.5 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), $0.45 per mmBtu above last week's level, market sources said.

This is the highest price since late January, Reuters price assessment data showed. After a previous two-month delay in restart of the Gorgon Train 2 due to maintenance works, Chevron Corp announced it would further delay the restart to October from early September. The facility at Australia’s second-largest LNG plant has been shut since May. In the United States, hurricane Laura halted loadings at Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass and Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG export plants in Louisiana last week. There were no loadings at these plants after Aug. 23, said Kaleem Asghar, director of LNG analytics at ClipperData on Friday. “There are 16 ballast vessels in the Gulf of Mexico and feedgas supply remains zero to Sabine Pass and Sempra LNG terminal,” he said, adding that more vessels were sailing towards Corpus Christie and Freeport LNG terminals instead.

Some analysts expect U.S. LNG exports to rise later this month as fewer cargoes were cancelled for September than for the summer months. “Departures should begin to trend higher over the next 10 days or so,” data intelligence firm Kpler said. In tenders, China’s Foran Energy was seeking a cargo for November delivery, while South Korea’s KOMIPO and India’s Reliance were seeking October delivery cargoes. China’s Sinopec issued a tender for eight cargoes for delivery from November this year to March 2021, and awarded its 10-year tender to buy 1 million tons of LNG annually to Qatargas. Russia’s Sakhalin 2 plant offered a cargo for October loading, Angola LNG was selling a cargo for delivery in September to October, while GAIL (India) offered cargoes from the U.S. Cove Point terminal for next year.

(Reporting by Ekaterina Kravtsova; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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