More LNG is heading to Northwest Europe, with 10 ships currently en route to Northwest Europe carrying up to 46.2 Bcf of gas, after Malaysia and Indonesia recovered from recent production slowdowns, according to a report Wednesday from Bentek, which is a unit of Platts.
Two of these LNG cargoes are confirmed en route to South Hook terminal in the UK, and another two shipments are confirmed to deliver at Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal.
Production slowdowns in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei caused a 1.5 Bcf/d supply shortage in the Asia-Pacific market over the past 30 days.
Despite the lower output from Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, an additional 610,000 Mcf/d of Australian LNG that was primarily sourced from the newly commissioned Pluto terminal, combined with a 1 Bcf/d month-on-month increase in supply from Nigeria and Qatar helped to ease the supply crunch to Asia.
The additional Qatari and Nigerian volumes were mainly diverted from the Northwest European market, which is largely supplied under long-term contracts from Qatar and Nigeria, in addition to smaller North African suppliers.
Slow demand in Europe has allowed Qatari and Nigerian supplies to be diverted to meet a supply disruption in the Asia-Pacific production region, keeping North Asian spot LNG prices subdued.
Platts September LNG Japan Korea Marker for spot LNG cargoes delivered to Japan/South Korea was assessed at $13.55/MMBtu Thursday, down from $14.10/MMBtu July 16 when it rolled over. Platts JKM rolls on the 16th of each calendar month.
As a result of the diversions, the UK imported 68% less LNG year-on-year during the last 30 days at 0.82 Bcf/d. France's Montoir LNG terminal took in just 0.09 Bcf/d during the last 30 days, 78% less than in the same period of 2011. The Netherlands imported an average of 0.19 Bcf/d during the last 30 days, 33% less than during the same period of last year.
Output from Malaysia and Indonesia has started to recover recently, according to the Bentek report.
Production at Malaysia's Bintulu liquefaction facility picked up to 1.74 Bcf/d this week, a 580,000 Mcf/d build from the previous week, although production levels over the last 30 days are still 1.5 Bcf/d lower compared to the same period last year.
Indonesia's production is also up this week, averaging 2.01 Bcf/d, 66% more than last week, although production levels during the last 30 days are still 8% lower than in 2011.
