The Platts JKM for cargo delivery in February, the new front month, kicked off at $9.20/MMBtu Friday as the market continued to be supported by limited supply.
The January JKM ended its assessment period on Thursday at $9.10/MMBtu up 10 cents/MMBtu from Friday last week.
A couple of tenders were in focus this week as market participants sought price indications for future trades.
South Korea's Kogas closed its tender for December 15 to February 20 delivery. The Korean utility was initially looking for two cargoes, but was heard to have awarded somewhere between six and ten cargoes in the end.
Kogas bought most cargoes that were offered into the tender and most of them were January delivery, said traders. They added that Kogas awarded those cargoes in the low to mid $9s/MMBtu.
In another tender, Russia's Sakhalin LNG tender offering February and March cargoes closed December 13. It was heard awarded both cargoes to two Japanese utilities, with the February cargo heard awarded at $9.30/MMBtu to Tohoku Electric and the March cargo awarded at $8.10/MMBtu to $8.20/MMBtu to another Japanese buyer.
Tohoku Electric lost the 1 GW coal-fired unit at its Haramachi power plant which was shut Sunday on suspicion of a steam leak inside the boiler.
Prospects of supply became more clear toward the end of the week as Gorgon Train 2 restarted operations after a temporary halt. Gorgon LNG Train 1 went also offline at the beginning of December and no updates have been heard.
Brunei LNG also restarted this week after a temporary shutdown. The cargo on board the Bebatik left the terminal in Lumut, Brunei, on Thursday to head north, according to S&P Global Platts ship-tracking software cFlow.
In Africa, Angola LNG issued another tender for a cargo loading December 17-19, traders said. The cargo has no delivery restrictions, sources added.
Volumes available for February delivery continued to be heard tight.
Sources said this week that no additional volumes were seen available for the January-March period from Indonesia's Bontang or Tnagguh projects.
The LNG market in Asia was also supported by limited vessel availability in the Atlantic.
