LNG Supply Crisis Pushes Buyers Toward Coal and Oil
Europe Heads Into Winter With Its Weakest Gas Cushion In 15 Years With over two decades of journalistic experience working in newspapers, trade publications and as a mining reporter, Andrew Topf is a seasoned writer specializing in… The resumption of the Iran conflict, including the effective closures of the Strait of Hormuz andnow the Strait of Bab el-Mandebhas driven up natural gas prices, particularly in Europe and Asia.
Asia accounts for nearly 90% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from key Middle East producers like Qatar and the UAE, while Europe imports 7-11% of its LNG imports from the region.
European gas prices surged to four-month highs amid fears the US-Iran war will cause winter shortages.
AsThe Guardian wrote, The Dutch natural gas benchmark briefly rose above €60 a megawatt hour (MWh) on Monday, near the peaks seen at the start of the US-Iran conflict, after the US expanded its aerial offensive and Iran retaliated with strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait.
Analysts at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS) said Europe’s gas supplies were facing pressure this winter, with the conflict delaying the expected recovery of Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in the critical summer storage season.
The market intelligence firm said if the price of gas stayed above €60 it could mean costly state intervention to safeguard security of supply.
It noted that European gas storage is now less than 54% full compared with 64% at the same point last year.
ICIS calculated that only 26 LNG cargoes had managed to leave the Gulf since the conflict began on Feb.
28, compared to the usual 90-100 per month.
About 20% of the world’s oil and gas transited through the Strait of Hormuz before the war started.
The Strait of Bab el-Mandeb normally receives about 7% of global oil output.
Another factor affecting LNG exports is the war itself.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
Comments
Post a Comment