--DES Northeast Asia

Fresh spot demand from Northeast Asia remained at the low ebb. Japanese end-users recently showed buying interest, but they were believed to have already secured enough cargoes to survive late-summer heat waves and satisfy growing demand. Rather than that, some end-users may have a chance to move forward to resell excess cargoes moving forward. In Tokyo, the highest temperature was forecast to drop to around 30 degrees from the second half of September, raising worries among some players that the peak-demand summer season came closer to an end. In South Korea as well, the peak power demand continued to track a downward trend since late last week. The peak demand on Sep 11 was expected at 79.7GW, slipping off the 80GW mark. A possible slowdown in gas demand for power generation was likely to discourage South Korean end-users from placing inquiries. In addition, demand from China was also believed to be limited. An energy analyst in Japan pointed out, "It would be no surprise if China additionally imports one or two cargoes from the 19.8 mil mt/year Arctic 2 project in Russia, though China would have to care about the US. The bottom line is demand in China is weak due to an economic slowdown, so that Chinese players may beef up reselling term contract cargoes."

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

Indian state-run Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) bought a cargo for Oct 25-31 delivery to India in the low $11's through the tender closed on Tuesday.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

US Glenfarne signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with European Gunvor for cargoes supplied out of the 4 mil mt/year Texas project on an FOB basis. Starting the project startup in 2028, Glenfarne would supply 500,000mt of LNG every year to Gunvor for a 20-year period. Both parties earlier concluded a Heads of Agreement (HOA) for the contract.