LNG

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) reported another trading surge on natural gas and LNG futures and options with very high liquidity and including record open interest in the US benchmark Henry Hub.

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of energy trading platforms for futures and options, reported a doubling of annual daily volume (ADV) for European benchmark Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) futures and for all natural gas trading almost 20 million lots were traded on one day at the start of November.

Energy ministers of the 27-nation European Union failed to reach an agreement at a council meeting in Brussels on imposing a maximum price for natural gas that would have impacted markets including, LNG cargo pricing and pipeline supplies from Norway.

The International Energy Agency said Russia’s continued curtailment of natural gas flows to Europe had pushed international prices to “painful” new highs, disrupted trade flows and led to acute fuel shortages in some emerging and developing economies.

Sept 12 (LNGJ) - The 154,950 cubic metres capacity carrier “Golar Penguin” was scheduled to discharge a cargo on September 13 at the UK Dragon LNG import terminal at Milford Haven. The shipment was lifted on August 30 from the Cheniere Energy-operated Sabine Pass export plant in Louisiana.

   The ship was arriving at the Dragon facilities as the UK National Balancing Point market price for wholesale gas was around the equivalent of $42.35 per million British thermal units compared with $20.10 per MMBtu exactly a year ago, long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and blamed on UK Government incompetence in failing to deveop oil and gas, overall energy security and gas storage.

Sept 9 (LNG) – The UK continues to receive a steady stream of LNG shipments. The 159,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Maran Gas Delphi” is scheduled to discharge a cargo on September 13 at the UK Dragon import terminal in the Port of Milford Haven from the Calcasieu Pass export plant in Louisiana, according to shipping data.

   The cargo was heading for the UK with the National Balancing Point market price for wholesale natural gas at the equivalent of $47.30 per million British thermal units.

July 19 (LNGJ) - EDF Trading, a wholly-owned subsidiary of French utility and energy company EDF S.A., has named Alex Watson as its new Head of Gas Trading. Watson took up the role on July 19 and reports to Marcello Romano, Head of Trading. “I’m delighted to welcome Alex to EDF Trading,” said Marcello Romano.

   “He has extensive knowledge of the natural gas and LNG markets and will help us to expand our global gas footprint and the services we provide to the EDF Group and our third party customers,” added Romano. Watson joined EDF Trading from Freepoint Commodities where he was a Cross Commodity Trader. Prior to that, he was a European Natural Gas Trader at Citigroup.

March 8 (LNGJ) - North Sea Brent front-month crude oil prices surged to over $70 per barrel, up from $67.30 per barrel at the end of last week. It is the highest oil price since early January 2020 and follows reported drone attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, blamed on Iran-backed Yemeni militia. The oil surge took the effective oil-linked, long-term LNG contract price to over $10 per million British thermal units.

   European natural gas prices also increased with the UK National Balancing Point and the continental European Dutch Tittle Transfer facility (TTF) both hitting the equivalent of $5.70 per MMBtu, up from $5.55 per MMBtu on March 5. The Japan-Korea Marker price for April spot LNG cargoes was around $6.00 per MMBtu, according to trading platforms.

Intercontinental Exchange, the US operator of global trading platforms and clearing houses, released its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 trading volumes showing record usage of products like the Dutch Title Transfer facility (TTF) gas pricing for continental Europe and the Japan-Korea Marker spot LNG cargo price derivative.

Dec 15 (LNGJ) - The 172,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Georgiy Brusilov” is scheduled to deliver a cargo on December 22 to the UK Dragon LNG import terminal at Milford Haven in Wales from the Yamal export plant in northern Siberia. The shipment was heading for the UK as winter season prices remained firm, with the National Balancing Point benchmark quoted at the equivalent of $6.40 per million British thermal units. The continental European Dutch Title Transfer facility (TTF) price was lower at the equivalent of $5.90 per MMBtu.