LNG Bunker Snapshot: LNG bunker prices retreat as Middle East tensions ease

Singapore-ARA spread broadly steady at $249/mt

TTF falls on US-Iran ceasefire

Healthy inventory levels weigh on JKM

Weekly changes in LNG bunker prices:

• Rotterdam down by $29/mt to $1,122/mt
• Singapore down by $23/mt at $1,371/mt
• Baltics down by $30/mt to $1,226/mt

Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s LNG bunker price has fallen by $29/mt week-on-week to $1,122/mt, despite LNG bunker premiums climbing 23% from about $87/mt to $107/mt.

The decline was primarily driven by an approximately 2% drop in the front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract over the week, Europe’s benchmark gas price.

The price fell “as the geopolitical risk premium eased following the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran” and was further supported “as LNG tankers resumed transits through the Strait of Hormuz and heat waves in Europe moderated,” JOGMEC said.

“Qatar sends its first LNG shipment through Hormuz in three weeks. The Al Areesh, which had been idling in the Persian Gulf since picking up a shipment from the Ras Laffan export facility in early July, sailed through Hormuz with its transponder turned on and was entering the Gulf of Oman… The move indicates that QatarEnergy may be resuming shipments through the strait,” Bloomberg News Energy Asia team leader Stephen Stapczynski commented.

LNG prices in Europe fell “on hopes that talks between Iran and Oman could lead to the resumption of shipping through the Strait,” ANZ Bank senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said.

The EU's underground gas storage facilities were 56.9% full on 24 July, up from 55.1% a week earlier. However, storage levels remained 17.3% lower than at the same time last year, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

Meanwhile, LNG bunker sales in Rotterdam increased 31% year-on-year to 123,000 mt in the second quarter and were also up 18% from the previous quarter.

Singapore

Singapore’s LNG bunker price has fallen by $23/mt over the past week to $1,371/mt. Despite the decline, its premium over Rotterdam has widened slightly, from $243/mt a week ago, to $249/mt.

The drop reflects broader weakness in the Asian LNG market, as prices typically track the NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker (JKM). The front-month JKM contract has declined by $0.55/MMBtu (about $29/mt) over the same period to $21.45/MMBtu ($1,115/mt), adding downward pressure to Singapore’s LNG bunker price.

The market has eased on the back of lower geopolitical tensions and healthy LNG inventories across Northeast Asia, according to JOGMEC.

Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation stood at 2.02 million mt on 26 July, down 480,000 mt from the previous week, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

“Despite persistent heat waves in Japan, South Korea, and China, spot demand remained limited due to comfortable inventory levels. This weak demand weighed on the market,” JOGMEC added.

“A Trump-Netanyahu meeting, a pause in US-Iran strikes and renewed diplomatic engagement have lifted hopes that ceasefire talks could resume, all adding to sentiment in the market at current. Oman is also pushing a Gulf-backed plan to restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, though management of the waterway remains contested. The lower geopolitical risk premium has pulled European and Asian gas prices down,” Rystad Energy Gas & LNG Research’s vice president, Masanori Odaka, commented.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) has awarded eight new licences to supply LNG as a marine fuel in the port from 1 September 2026, expanding the number of authorised suppliers as demand for LNG bunkering continues to grow.

Elsewhere in the LNG bunkering sector, Swiss shipping company Sallaum Lines has signed a shipbuilding contract with China Merchants Shipyards for the construction of a new 8,600-CEU pure car and truck carrier (PCTC).

In a separate development, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has granted design approval for a 12,000-cbm LNG bunkering articulated tug and barge (ATB), jointly developed by US shipbuilder Conrad Shipyard and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries.

By Tuhin Roy

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online