--DES Northeast Asia

Buying interest from Japan was hardly detected. A source at a European company said, "Buying activities will unlikely regain momentum unless the rainy season comes to an end and the temperatures get hotter again," and the view was shared by many other players. Meanwhile, JERA was poised to conduct repair works at the 1,000MW No2 unit at its Higashi Ohgishima gas-fired power station during Jul 18-29 following a glitch the turbine facility. The halt of a 1,000MW gas-fired unit for 11-12 days was expected to slash LNG consumption by 20,000mt, a factor that could hammer spot LNG demand. Meanwhile, JERA sent back on line the 1,000MW No2 unit at its Sodegaura gas-fired power station on Jul 16, and any impact on the market was believed to be limited.

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

In Bangladesh, state-run Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Co Ltd (RPGCL) purchased one cargo for Aug 3-4 delivery in a tender closed on Jul 13. The tender was awarded to Qatar Energy Trading (QET) at $13.24.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

Argentina's state-run IEASA purchased a combined five cargoes to be delivered to the 6.1 mil mt/year Escobar terminal on Aug 9, 13, 17, 22 and 28 in a tender closed on Jul 15. British BP sold all of the cargoes at small premiums over Netherlands' TTF (Title Transfer Facility) natural gas quotations. As reported, the tender drew offers from five sellers including BP, French TotalEnergies, European Vitol, European Gunvor and European Trafigura.