Buyers of U.S. LNG to cancel 40-45 cargoes for August loading
Buyers of LNG are expected to cancel 40 to 45 cargoes for August loading from the United States due to a slow recovery in Asian gas demand and record high European gas stocks, market sources said.
The exact number of cancellations is yet to be confirmed as the deadline of some projects is on Monday, but six of the sources said they expected the number of August cancellations to be close to 40 to 45 cargoes, the same number that was cancelled for July loading.
That followed at least 20 to 30 U.S. LNG cargoes cancelled for June loading after the coronavirus pandemic hit gas demand globally, causing gas and LNG prices to plummet.
The premium of gas prices in Europe over the U.S. Henry Hub remains too tight to deliver U.S. cargoes with a profit, sources said.
The August contract on the Dutch gas hub was trading around $0.10 per million British thermal units above the Henry Hub for August on Monday.
“At those levels, European buyers are looking at a loss of over $5.00 compared with just paying a cancellation fee of $3.00-$3.50,” a trader with knowledge of the matter said.
Another trade source said that close to 30 cargoes were likely cancelled from Cheniere Energy’s plants, Sabine Pass in Louisiana and Corpus Christi in Texas.
Up to 10 cargoes could have been cancelled from the Freeport plant in Texas, the source said, adding that there were likely cancellations from other U.S. projects as well, with a total of around 45 cargoes cancelled.
Some sources said, however, that loading a cargo in August might make more sense compared to June and July, as there was a price contango between August and forward months, with shipping rates low.
But finding a ship for autumn months could be difficult, a trader in Europe said.
Cheniere was not immediately available for comment. Freeport LNG said it does not comment on the activity of its customers’ cargoes.
Reporting by Ekaterina Kravtsova and Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore; Writing by Nina Chestney; Editing by Edmund Blair and David Evans
Copyright © 2019. All market data is provided by Barchart Solutions. Futures: at least a 10 minute delay. Information is provided 'as is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice. To see all exchange delays and terms of use, please see disclaimer.

FEATURED COLUMNS
GasPro 2.0: A Webcast Symposium
View On-Demand
Following the successful GasPro Webcast Symposium in October 2019, the third GasPro Webcast Symposium will take place on October 21, 2020.
The 2019 webcast drew attendees from around the world, with more than 80% of the audience working in company management or engineering divisions.
The 2020 web event will gather experts in the fields of LNG, gas processing and process safety to share market, operations and engineering technology and trends with our audience.
Attendees of the 2020 webcast will learn about market solutions and technology deployments in a number of areas: LNG delivery infrastructure, small-scale desulfurization for NGL, H2S removal for gas treating, process safety for safety instrumented systems, small-scale LNG project design, and advances in freeze component removal for LNG.
October 21, 2020 08:30 AM CDT
View On-Demand