LNG

European liquefied natural gas price benchmarks dropped this week to their lowest since late July 2021 when energy security contagion first entered the market as North Asian spot cargo prices also lost ground but at a slower pace.

The Panama Canal Authority has further reduced ship transits because of drought blamed on the “El Niño” weather effects to 24 vessels in November and booking slots will be cut to 22 ships in December, hitting LNG, oil and containership traffic on the Atlantic-Pacific Basin crossings and sending bidding for slots up to $2 million or more as waiting times grow to more than a week.

Shipbrokers in the London market reported a move to more charter activity in September as August had seen the LNG market feel very subdued on a prompt basis with notably fewer spot fixtures than in the previous month.

Nov 5 (LNGJ) - Shipping charter rates for LNG carriers in the spot market slipped in the past week by up to $7,500 per day. Rates were quoted at an average of between $97,000 per day and $102,000 per day West of Suez. The same levels of spot rates were also talked about for the East of Suez charter market for vessels of between 155,000-165,000 cubic metres capacity, according to various brokers.

CME Group, the global exchange and energy and commodities derivates trading and clearance platform operator, said it planned to offer the first futures contracts for liquefied natural gas freight.