The Northeast Asian assessed spot LNG price JKM for the previous week (3 April – 7 April) rose to late USD 13s on 3 April from late USD 12s in the previous week, fueled by European gas price hike. JKM then fell for three consecutive days to USD 12/MBtu on 6 April, due to high inventories in the Northeast Asian region.
On 7 April, major markets shut for Good Friday. According to METI, Japan’s LNG inventories for power generation totaled 2.40 million tonnes as of 2 April, up 0.10 million tonnes from the previous week, up 0.77 million tonnes from the end of the same month (March) last year and up 0.33 million tonnes from the average of the past five years.
The European gas price TTF rose to USD 16.4/MBtu on 3 April, from USD 15.2/MBtu the previous week, due to increased demand from lower temperatures in Europe.
TTF then fell for three consecutive days to USD 13.8/MBtu on 6 April, following the market’s quietness as the strike at French LNG terminals was closely watched, as well as the upward revision of the temperature forecast for the week in Europe.
On 7 April, major markets shut for Good Friday. ACER published the 5 April spot LNG assessment price for delivery in the EU increased by EUR 2.7/MWh from the previous week to EUR 40.6/MWh (equivalent to USD 13.0/MBtu).
According to AGSI+, the European underground gas storage rate as of 7 April was 55.4%, down from 55.6% the previous week.
The U.S. gas price HH fell from USD 2.2/MBtu the previous week to USD 2.1/MBtu on 3 April due to weak demand and remained almost flat on the next day.
HH then rose slightly to USD 2.2/MBtu on 5 April, as the maintenance on a pipeline in the northwestern U.S. affected gas production by 1 Bcf/d, but it fell to USD 2.0/MBtu on the next day.
On 7 April, major markets shut for Good Friday. According to the EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report released on 6 April, the U.S. natural gas underground storage on 31 March was 1,830 Bcf, down 23 Bcf from the previous week, up 31.9% from the same period last year, and up 19.5% from the historical five-year average.
Updated 10 April 2023
Source: JOGMEC
