LEAD STORY
The Chinese government is preparing to take a symbolic step by launching LNG futures denominated in yuan, giving Chinese buyers a domestic pricing and hedging tool at a time when energy markets remain highly exposed to geopolitical risk.
China courted by US, Qatar LNG push as politics trump demand
Written by AJ KotzeChina is the target of a charm offensive by both American and Qatari LNG exporters – yet politics, rather than China’s actual demand, is driving shipments, hence all US LNG cargoes were diverted last minute. Volumes in transit from both destinations are still dwarfed by Australian cargoes as well as sanctioned Russian ones; our Markets Editor Anja Karl investigates.
Also in this issue
Europe's storage refill is running behind, and running on US LNG. The methane row could pull the rug, without ever needing to bite. With the summer-winter spread inverted, no one wants the financial exposure of injecting, so the Continent is deferring in the hope that a warm winter does the work instead. EU storage was above 40 percent in early June, and Brussels has already conceded the 90 percent target. Six US cargoes have shown over mid-April to mid-May that the inter-basin price spread can still pull cargoes east when JKM widens, writes our Markets Editor Dr Alexander Wilk.
North-east Asian buyers came back to restock in May, lifting Pacific imports thirteen percent just as the supply base had least to give them, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed and Qatari volumes all but gone. The contest resolved in Asia's favour, drawing US cargoes east even as Europe, refilling storage from a low base, shed import volume for a fifth consecutive month, our Markets Editor Dr Alexander Wilk writes.
On-farm systems promise to transform decentralized bioLNG fuel production
Written by AJ KotzeThe global push for LNG in heavy road transportation has long been constrained by infrastructure limitations but new innovations now promise to bring fuel production much closer to end users in Europe. Fuelling Editor Malcolm Ramsay has more.
A round-up of latest events, company and industry news
Written by AJ KotzeAmigo LNG: LNG Alliance’s 4.2 mill tonnes per annum Amigo LNG project has obtained the remaining major federal permits for its Mexican Sonora terminal.
