LNG

March 25 (LNGJ) - The UK is scheduled to receive a US LNG cargo on March 27 as prices remain solid at the end of the winter season at around the equivalent of $8.720 per million British thermal units on the National Balancing Point market. Spot natural gas prices on the European Energy Exchange also rose. The Dutch TTF day-ahead spot price was at the equivalent of $8.740 per MMBtu.

   The cargo heading for the UK South Hook terminal in Milford Haven in Wales is onboard the vessel “Lech Kaczynski” with 174,000 cubic metres capacity. The shipment was loaded on March 13 at the Cameron export plant in Louisiana.

July 28 (LNGJ) - The UK will receive its first August LNG cargo form Qatar delivered to the South Hook import terminal in Milford Haven on August 1 by the 257,980 cubic metres capacity Q-Max carrier “Al Ghuwairiya”. The shipment is heading for the UK as the National Balancing Point market price for natural gas has surged once more to above $44 per million British thermal units, will up from $13.25 per MMBtu last year at this time.

May 12 (LNGJ) - At least three LNG cargoes are being delivered to the UK in the next week. The 155,000 cubic metres capacity “British Sapphire” was unloading a shipment on May 12 at the UK Isle of Grain terminal in Kent from the Point Fortin plant in Trinidad. Two Qatargas cargoes were then due at the UK South Hook terminal in Milford Haven. The 216,200 cubic metres capacity Q-Flex carrier “Al Gharrafa” will unload on May 15 at South Hook and the 266,000 cubic metres capacity Q-Max vessel “Al Mafyar” was scheduled to berth on May 18.

   The cargoes were heading for the UK as European natural gas prices were still at low levels. The UK National Balancing Point natural gas price fell again this week to $1.65 per million British thermal units while Continental Europe’s Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) price was higher than the NBP at $2.05 per MMBtu.

   Asian spot prices for June were at around $2.05 per MMBtu while oil-linked contract prices were at $6 per MMBtu and above. Among the many shipments on the water, the 160,000 cubic metres capacity vessel “Asia Vision” was scheduled to deliver a cargo on May 25 to the Map Ta Phut terminal in Thailand from Wheatstone LNG in Western Australia. The 174,000 cubic metres capacity “GasLog Gibraltar” was due to unload a US shipment at India’s Dahej terminal on May 28 from Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana.

April 16 (LNG) - Three more LNG deliveries are heading for the UK next week, two from Qatar and one from Freeport LNG in Texas, as the benchmark UK National Balancing Point natural gas price has dropped to a new seasonal low, equivalent to $1.85 per million British thermal units.

   The 210,000 cubic metres capacity Q-Flex vessel “Al Kharaana” will discharge a cargo on April 21 at the UK South Hook terminal at Milford Haven, the port authorities said. The 266,000 cubic metres capacity Q-Max carrier “Mozah” will then arrive at South Hook on April 22. A third vessel, the 138,000 cubic metres capacity carrier “Sestao Knutsen”, is scheduled to deliver a shipment on April 23 to the UK Dragon terminal from Freeport’s plant on Quintana Island.

Natural gas benchmark prices in the UK and the Netherlands, which help determine LNG cargo values, have plunged to seasonal lows for winter with weather fluctuations having little impact because of very full storage across Europe. 

Europe’s largest liquefied natural gas import terminal, the UK Isle of Grain facility located southeast of London, handled its highest ever send-out of natural gas in a single day on November 13.

March 21 (LNGJ) - The 210,185 cubic metres capacity Q-Flex carrier “Al Bahiya” will unload a shipment on April 3 at the UK South Hook terminal at Milford Haven in Wales from the Ras Laffan plant in Qatar, according to shipping data. The delivery was heading for the UK as the National Balancing Point benchmark natural gas price was at the equivalent of $4.95 per million British thermal units, while one of the main continental European prices, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), was higher at the equivalent of around $5.10 per MMBtu.

Imports of liquefied natural gas to the UK in March are at their highest levels since October 2015, helping benchmark National Balancing Point prices to decline to an 18-month low at around the equivalent of $5.00 per million British thermal units.

Feb 4 (LNGJ) - The 173,400 cubic metres capacity carrier “Flex Endeavour” will deliver a re-loaded cargo on February 7 to the UK South Hook import terminal at Milford Haven in Wales from the French Atlantic coast Montoir-de-Bretagne terminal, according to the port authority. The shipment was heading for the UK as the National Balancing Point benchmark natural gas price was at the equivalent of $6.55 per million British thermal units, while one of the main continental European prices, the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), was lower at around $6.35 per MMBtu.

National Grid of the UK said its Isle of Grain import terminal on the Medway River southeast of London sent out more regasified LNG last month than any other facility in Northwest Europe.

The Grain LNG terminal operator said that market conditions and a robust UK benchmark National Balancing Point natural gas price led to a record performance for December 2018.

“This is a stark contrast to December 2017, when the terminal only delivered gas above minimum send out on two occasions,” said Grain LNG.

“This winter, the UK has proved to be a strong market for LNG sellers looking to home excess LNG resulting from various supply projects coming on line,” said the company.

Grain LNG is currently the only UK terminal capable of accepting the full range of global LNG due to its extensive nitrogen processing plant.

“The UK has a more stringent Wobbe limit than most of Europe but plans are underway to relax this, which should lead to a significant reduction in costs as well as ensuring LNG is able to enter any of the UK terminals,” said the UK operator.

Other UK terminals have also seen increased activity, with both terminals in Milford Haven in Wales, the South Hook facility and the Dragon terminal, accepting many cargoes.

“We are delighted to see such high utilisation at our terminal and proud of our consistent performance and ability to deliver our customer nominations after a long period of low activity,” said Simon Culkin, the Grain LNG terminal manager.

The UK terminal noted that during 2018 a total of 26 million tonnes of additional LNG production hit the market and shipping charter rates reached a record high.

“These two factors resulted in traders delivering more LNG than expected to Europe as the differential available between European and Asian prices did not justify the additional shipping costs,” explained Grain LNG.

“The gas price in the UK remained steadfast and as utilisation at the Grain terminal rose it is expected that variable costs on a per unit basis would have decreased significantly as the terminal typically operates more efficiently at higher send-out as per the design basis,” it added.