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Asian LNG prices LNG firm up at $12.15 on demand per Platts/thats Phils price the Exxon price.ASIA SPOT LNG: Japan Korea Marker firms to $12.15/MMBtu on demand Singapore (Platts)--1Apr2011/618 am EDT/1018 GMT Asian spot LNG prices firmed to $12.15/MMBtu by the week's close, as buyers continued to seek cargoes for delivery in May across north and south Asia. The Platts May LNG Japan Korea Marker started Monday at $11.50/MMBtu. Taiwan's CPC bought two cargoes March 25 and Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company concluded deals for 10 shipments early this week. Post-earthquake, Japan's Tohoku Electric purchased three to five cargoes per month for delivery across April through June early last week, with the shipments priced in the range of $10.40-11.50/MMBtu. Along with another series of swaps and spot deals concluded recently for delivery into Japan, that left only higher priced offers in the market, sources said. Nevertheless, this failed to deter buyers, with South Korea's K-Power and GS Caltex engaged in discussions to buy one May cargo each, while India's Gail conducted a buy tender for one end-May delivered shipment. In addition, China's CNOOC and PetroChina, CPC and a few other Japanese utilities could also be looking for more May spot LNG, sources variously told Platts. State-owned PetroChina is seeking one May LNG cargo for the commissioning of its Rudong terminal in eastern China, a trader said. The 3.5 million mt/year Rudong facility in the eastern province of Jiangsu will start up in April, a PetroChina spokesman said in mid-January. A source close to the company said that the startup could be delayed to early May as technical issues were being resolved. The start of the Rudong LNG terminal will make PetroChina China's second LNG terminal operator. H1 June rolled over at at $12.25/MMBtu Friday, with a resulting contango of $0.15/MMBtu to H1 May. Several north Asian buyers told Platts that they were already planning their spot LNG purchases for June but would adopt a wait-and-see stance before taking a plunge into the market. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has ordered power utilities to adopt new emergency safety measures at their nuclear power plants within a month, METI minister Banri Kaieda said Wednesday. Sources variously said this could give Japanese LNG demand a boost in May and June. "There might be some unplanned shutdowns of nuclear plants in Japan due to the safety checks that have to be carried out," a trader said, "Utilities like Chubu Electric, Kansai Electric and Kyushu Electric may use LNG for power generation if they lose any nuclear capacity as a result." The Asia Pacific Day Rate was down from $85,000/day at the start of the week to $80,000/day Friday for a ship loading 25-45 days forward. "More ships will be available in April and May, and the market rate for chartering ships should be at $80,000/day," a source said. Platts FOB Middle East was up 80 cents at $10.60/MMBtu Friday from $9.80/MMBtu March 28. The assessments reflects the transactable value for a cargo loading 25-45 days forward and cargo prices are normalized to the median point of this assessment timeframe or May 6. In comparison, a straight netback calculation from the JKM would value a cargo loading May 1 at $10.46/MMBtu. The difference between the outright assessment and the netback calculation reflects demand and higher prices from India, where Gail awarded a buy tender for one end-May delivery shipment Thursday. --Hong Chou Hui, chou_hui_hong@platts.comAs |
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