--DES Northeast Asia

In the DES Northeast Asia market last week, the front delivery plunged after hitting around $16.65, a new high since November 2023. The slump in prices came from the news that the US would start talks with Russia to end the Ukraine war.

More sellers showed interest in spot sales. On Feb 12, British Shell and European Vitol offered mid-March delivery. On top of that, Osaka Gas Co Ltd showed an offer for late March delivery at a premium of 19cts to the April contract of DES Northeast Asia spot quotations. A Japanese company explained, "It is rare that Osaka Gas offers spot cargoes in public. They might have excess cargoes and might be looking for an opportunity to resell them at a high price level."

A European trader implied a possible demand increase from Japan due to the weather outlook of a sharp temperature drop for this week. "Power demand in January in Japan is 2.4% up from a year earlier, not a bad figure, which might have reduced gas inventory as a whole. Given this situation, a scenario of the arrival of the cold snap stimulating the spot procurements ought to be considered," the trader said.

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

Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) floated a buy tender on a DES basis which would close on Friday. Through the tender, EGPC planned to buy a cargo to be delivered to the 3.80 mil mt/year Aqaba terminal in Jordan on Feb 21-22.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

The negotiation between US President Donald Trump and Russia to end the Ukraine war might work as a bearish sentiment because that could trigger the relaxation of sanctions against Russia as well as expectations of Russian natural gas supply. "At least the TTF market, where net long positions of speculators piled up, would be under pressure of downward" (a trading house).