LNG

One of the valuations of long-term liquefied natural gas contract cargoes is the North Sea Brent crude oil price benchmark which is changing for ever with the inclusion of select US oil cargoes in the Brent complex delivered to Europe from June.

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of energy trading platforms for futures and options, reported record Open Interest across its global commodity and energy futures and options markets, including European natural gas and with record volumes also seen in oil options.

North Asian spot cargo prices surged by over 14 percent, though failed to keep pace with the rising European Union benchmark as this week saw most leading EU LNG nations drawing on their gas storage as colder weather arrived and as shipping windows opened with falling charter rates.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the owner of the world renowned New York Stock Exchange and platforms for trading global oil and gas futures such as the US Henry Hub, North Sea Brent crude and the Dutch Title Transfer Facility for LNG and natural gas, has signed an accord for dual listing with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa.

The US government has forecast average Henry Hub benchmark natural gas spot prices of $8.69 per million British thermal units in the third quarter as LNG exports rise 22 percent in 2002 with Europe being the main destination.

LNG cargo liftings declined as North Asian spot futures prices dropped by 23 percent on the week, though remained over $20 per million British thermal units and with European benchmarks offering a $4.50 per MMBtu premium.

Some of the steam has run out of the global LNG price surge as natural gas benchmarks dropped by 12 percent and more across the board for Europe and North Asia while remaining at sky-high seasonal levels as LNG cargo liftings were stable.

Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of trading platforms and clearing, and US pricing agency Platts have launched simultaneous consultations with the market on the evolution of the Brent complex, which includes Dated Brent, Cash Brent and ICE Brent Crude Oil futures.

ICE, which also operates other exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, also offers its platforms to allow traders to manage risk across multiple asset classes, including LNG.

In the ICE overall energy complex, it has posted record activity during 2021 in two key LNG trading derivatives, the European benchmark Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) and the Japan-Korea Marker for North Asian spot cargoes.

The paper on the Brent market, co-authored by Platts and ICE which oversee, respectively, the Dated Brent physical benchmark price assessment and the ICE Brent Crude Oil futures contract, provides an overview of options for adding additional deliverable crude oil to the Brent complex and outlines a number of key issues and questions as it seeks market feedback.

Ongoing discussions conducted separately by ICE and Platts have demonstrated that industry opinion has focused specifically on two possible streams of crude to become part of Dated Brent.

The first is Johan Sverdrup as a deliverable option under the Forward Brent contract, which would remain on a Free on Board (FOB) basis.

The second is West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland oil, which would be a deliverable grade on a FOB US Gulf Coast basis.

All interested parties are encouraged to provide feedback and to put forward any further relevant items through the respective consultation channels.

The deadline for comments is September 30, 2021.

“Key to Brent’s multi-decade success as the global crude oil benchmark, has been its ability to evolve, and we look forward to ongoing discussions with customers as we navigate this next phase of its evolution with Platts,” said Jeff Barbuto, Global Head of Oil Markets at ICE.

“Our goal for this consultation is to facilitate a discussion with market participants covering all of the key issues which need to be addressed so that we can strengthen the Brent complex for decades to come,” added Barbuto.

In addition to Brent, natural gas has become a global market and the record levels of open interest and strong trading activity in TTF and JKM LNG futures reflect how these contracts have been developed by ICE and are at the forefront of global natural gas price formation.

Some long-term LNG supply contracts for nations like Japan are also linked to the oil price.

TTF and JKM futures and options form part of ICE’s global natural gas complex alongside the UK National Balancing Point, Henry Hub, the West India Marker (WIM) LNG (Platts) and the Spark LNG Freight Futures contracts. 

The Chief Executive of BP said the UK major would continue producing hydrocarbons in the form of oil and natural gas for pipelines and LNG for many decades to come and would benefit from rising oil prices, reducing investor concerns over the past two years that BP was pandering to environmental extremists who had attacked its London headquarters.

With North Sea Brent crude forecast to hit $100 a barrel in 2022, boosting LNG values for producers holding long-term contracts, the oil derivatives market has new future offerings this week, including a Houston-based oil contract and a Chinese oil future for foreigners launched in Shanghai.