LNG Bunker Snapshot: Singapore price falls amid progress in US-Russia negotiations

Rotterdam’s LNG bunker price has fallen amid mild weather forecasts and declining bunker premiums, while Singapore’s price has fallen for a sixth consecutive week.

Changes in weekly LNG bunker prices:

• Rotterdam down by $13/mt to $810/mt
• Singapore down by $21/mt to $784/mt

Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s LNG bunker price has fallen by $13/mt to $810/mt. This weekly decline is mainly due to a reduction in the estimated LNG bunker premium, which has dropped from $128/mt to $119/mt.

A roughly 1% decrease in the front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract, a key European gas benchmark, has also contributed to the price drop.

The TTF decline is linked to “rising temperatures and continued forecasts of increased renewable energy output,” according to the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).

“As negotiations between the United States and Russia over the war in Ukraine progressed, market sentiment remained bearish,” the organisation also noted.

“The mild start to the spring and the concerns about the effects of a US-EU trade war limit the upside significantly,” Energi Danmark added.

Singapore

Singapore’s LNG bunker price has dropped for the sixth consecutive week, reaching $784/mt.

This decline was driven by “progress in negotiations between the United States and Russia over the war in Ukraine and the resulting agreement by both Ukraine and Russia to a ceasefire in the Black Sea,” according to JOGMEC.

LNG inventories for power generation reached 1.83 million mt on 26 March, an increase of 270,000 mt from the previous week, according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Asian LNG bunker prices typically track the NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker (JKM), which fell by $0.30/MMBtu over the same period, bringing the front-month contract to $13.09/MMBtu ($681/mt).

Meanwhile, Singapore’s $18/mt discount to Rotterdam has widened to $26/mt within a week.

By Tuhin Roy

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