LNG Bunker Snapshot: JKM contract roll lifts Singapore’s LNG bunker price

Singapore-ARA spread widens to $114/mt

TTF climbs on cold forecasts and strong Asian buying

ARA and Baltic bunker premiums narrow

Weekly changes in LNG bunker prices:

• ARA up by $102/mt to $1,655/mt
• Singapore up by $182/mt to $1,769/mt
• Baltics up by $100/mt to $1,759/mt

ARA

Rotterdam’s LNG bunker price has risen for a third consecutive week, but by less than TTF.

Front-month TTF has climbed by $2.17/MMBtu ($113/mt) to $29.42/MMBtu ($1,530/mt). Rotterdam’s bunker premium over TTF has gone from $2.62/MMBtu ($136/mt) a week ago to $2.41/MMBtu ($125/mt), and the Baltic premium from $4.64/MMBtu ($241/mt) to $4.40/MMBtu ($229/mt).

TTF has drawn support from colder weather forecasts for late October, stronger Asian buying interest and maintenance at Trinidad and Tobago’s Atlantic LNG plant, which has tightened LNG supply, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) gas analyst Greg Molnár.

EU gas storage was 74% full on 18 October, broadly level with a week ago and 11% lower than a year earlier, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

ANZ Bank senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said storage was at its lowest for mid-October since records began in 2011. The European Commission was examining plans for a dedicated EU emergency gas reserve, he added.

Singapore

Singapore’s LNG bunker price has risen by far more than ARA’s, widening its premium over ARA from $34/mt a week ago to $114/mt.

Most of the rise has come from JKM rolling to the higher-priced December contract, which accounts for $176/mt of the increase. December JKM stands at $29.93/MMBtu ($1,556/mt), and Singapore’s bunker premium over JKM at $4.10/MMBtu ($213/mt).

JKM rose early in the week on worries over Europe’s tightening winter balance, Middle East supply risks and stronger buying from Northeast Asia, the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) said. It edged down mid-week as Japanese spot demand stayed weak and Chinese and South Korean winter buying slowed.

Heightened geopolitical tension and active spot buying from South Korea and Thailand supported the December contract when it became the front month on 16 October, JOGMEC added.

In other LNG bunker news, marine fuel supplier Vitol Bunkers plans to start LNG bunker deliveries in Singapore and other Asian markets later this year, after completing sea trials of its 12,500-cbm LNG bunker vessel.

Singapore’s LNG bunker sales fell by 12% to 52,000 mt in September, according to preliminary data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

UK-based bunker supplier Avenir LNG has launched the second of two 20,000-cbm LNG bunker vessels it ordered from a Chinese shipyard, and expects it to join its fleet next year.

Bunker supplier Axpo has completed its first LNG bunker delivery in Valencia, Spain, supplying a container ship with a blend in which liquefied biomethane (LBM) made up more than half the fuel.

By Erik Hoffmann

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