--DES Northeast Asia

In the DES Northeast Asia market last week, the front delivery rose to around $14.25 in response to the rise in the Netherlands' TTF market. A supply/demand balance in DES Northeast Asia, however, remained weak owing to oversupply.

Some equity holders of LNG projects were moving on spot sales one after another. Therefore, spot supply was gradually amounting. On Jan 23, Australian Santos closed a sell tender on an FOB basis for a cargo to be loaded from the 8.30 mil mt/year Papua New Guinea project on Mar 21-23. An FOB sell tender closed on Jan 21 by China National Offshore and Oil Co (CNOOC) was reportedly awarded in the $13's. Offered in the tender was a cargo for February loading from the 8.50 mil mt/year Queensland Curtis project (QCLNG) in Australia. Santos and CNOOC hold equity of 39.9% and 50.0% for the PNG project and No.1 liquefaction train at the QCLNG project, respectively.

Among Japanese end-users, only Kansai Electric Power Co (KEPCO) was engaging in spot talks, and its intention was apparently for adjusting inventory levels, simply. The company was seen to have conducted a time-swap tender a week earlier whereby it would buy two cargoes for May 15-19 and May 25-31 delivery and would sell three cargoes from the 8.90 mil mt/year Ichthys project in Australia for Apr 10-15, Jun 5-11 and Jul 5-9 delivery.

--FOB Middle East, DES South Asia and the Middle East

ADNOC Gas in the United Arab Emirates issued a sell tender on an FOB basis, closing on Jan 23. Through the tender, ADNOC Gas planned to sell one cargo loading from its 5.80 mil mt/year Das Island project on Feb 8-10. The tender counts fourth for ADNOC Gas to issue a sell tender this month, including one on a DES basis, suggesting supply continues smoothly from the Middle East.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

Germany has been considering subsidies for natural gas storage to enhance inventory levels for the upcoming winter season; the expectation for LNG demand to replenish inventory has grown further, pushing the Netherlands' TTF market up. Moreover, the gain partly came from the freezing weather in Texas, which is threatening US LNG exports.