
Prices for Asian liquefied natural gas extended gains. Russia’s announcement of maintenance on a key pipeline to Europe will further restrict global supplies.
Producers offered spot loads of LNG for the winter above $60 per million British thermal units on Monday, traders said. The japan-Korea Marker spot benchmark index fell 1.3% to $55.277 per million Btu on Friday ahead of Gazprom PJSC’s announcement, they said. It is citing data from S&P Global. Prices rose for five consecutive weeks and are trading at three times last year’s level.
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Gazprom said on Friday it would halt the key Nord Stream pipeline for three days of maintenance on Aug. 31. The helping is to push Europe’s benchmark price to a record high. LNG traders in Asia have expressed concern that the link will not return to service as planned. It would further narrow global markets after Russia reduced deliveries to Europe, its biggest customer.
Gazprom said on Friday that shipments via the link under the Baltic Sea to Germany restoration would be at current levels. The level is equal to around 20% of capacity, “once the completion of work and the absence of technical failures.”
Utilities in Europe and Asia are in direct competition for LNG shipments from suppliers such as the United States, Qatar, and Nigeria. Traders are getting caught up in bidding wars to attract cargo. Japan and South Korea are currently looking to acquire more spot LNG for the winter. It helped to push prices to the highest level for this time of year.
Meanwhile, China could struggle to meet peak power demand after hydropower outages in the Sichuan region, Bloomberg Intelligence said on Monday. BI expects LNG and coal prices to continue to rise in the near term.