The Northeast Asian assessed spot LNG price JKM (January delivery) for last week (9 – 13 December) fell to mid-USD 13s on 13 December from high-USD 14s the previous weekend (6 December).
JKM was on downward trend through the week as high inventories and weak demand in Northeast Asia continued. METI announced on 11 December that Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation as of 8 December stood at 2.11 million tonnes, up 0.22 million tonnes from the previous week.
The European gas price TTF (January delivery) for last week (9 – 13 December) fell to USD 12.7/MBtu on 13 December from USD 14.4/MBtu the previous weekend (6 December).
In the first half of the week, TTF had small price movements due to upward factors such as unplanned maintenance at Norwegian gas fields and forecasts of falling temperatures, but fell by more than USD 1.50 over the week due to high prices last week and forecasts of warmer weather from next week onwards. According to AGSI+, the EU-wide underground gas storage was 78.8% on 13 December, down from 82.7% at the end of the previous weekend.
The U.S. gas price HH (January delivery) for last week (9 – 13 December) rose to USD 3.3/MBtu on 13 December from USD 3.1/MBtu the previous weekend (6 December).
HH rose to the mid-USD 3s midweek due to rising feed gas demand and the forecasts of cooler temperatures in the near term. The EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on 12 December showed U.S. natural gas inventories as of 6 December at 3,747 Bcf, down 190 Bcf from the previous week, up 1.8% from the same period last year, and 4.6% increase over the five-year average.
Updated: December 16
Source: JOGMEC
