LNG

Natural gas wholesale futures prices in Europe broke records for a second day in a market of contrasts as sky-high prices for spot LNG carrier charters have finally crashed for both the East of Suez and West of Suez markets and by up to $70,000 per day.

May 11 (LNGJ) - The 154,880 cubic metres capacity carrier “BW Pavilion Vanda” was unloading a cargo at the UK Isle of Grain LNG terminal on the Medway-Thames estuary southeast of London on May 11 from the US Corpus Christi plant in Texas. The arrival coincided with a surge in UK natural gas prices to their highest level of 2021. Another vessel, the 171,800 cubic metres capacity “Ougarta”, was also scheduled to berth with a shipment from the Arzew plant in Algeria, according to the port authorities.

   The UK terminal, operated by National Grid plc, has Europe’s largest storage capacity of one million cubic metres. The two vessels arrived to discharge cargoes as the UK National Balancing Point benchmark price rose to the 2021 high, which was the equivalent of $9.05 per million British thermal units.

Global liquefied natural gas plants lifted the pace of cargo loadings in the week even as previously very high winter season prices for physical North Asia spot cargoes moderated and the February futures contract expired.