--DES Northeast Asia
DES Northeast Asia prices sharply declined. Prices for second-half March delivery, taking a center stage, were at $2.55-2.85, lower than those as of end-January by $1.15. Supply/demand fundamentals were very slack since demand from China sharply decreased and quite a few producers including Brunei LNG, Sakhalin Energy and Donggi Senoro had opened sell tenders. Tankers loading unsold cargoes were staying offshore of China and Singapore. Supply was very ample. On the other hand, some end-users in Japan and South Korea were considering bargain hunting but deferred buying as the market was persistently expected to fall in the future.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America
Russia's Novatek closed a sell tender on Feb 13 for a total of 9 cargoes loading Apr 5 to Dec 31 from the 16.50 mil mt/year Yamal project. At the Yamal project, construction of Train 4 (900,000mt/year) was progressing with production expected to begin in the first half of 2020.

--FOB Middle East, DES South Asia and the Middle East
LNG demand from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seemed to be hitting a ceiling as a nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi was about to start up. At the Barakah nuclear power plant consisting of four units with a combined output of 5,600MW, the No. 1 unit was expected to begin operations as early as end-February. The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) in the UAE had given approval and various tests in preparation for the startup were also completed in early February. The other three units would begin operations going forward. If all 4 units were in operation, this would meet about 25% of power demand in the UAE.