--DES Northeast Asia

Most end-users in Northeast Asia apparently refrained from buying a lot of spot cargoes at present, but with both Iran and the US continuing military activities, there was no sign of a peaceful resolution. Under this situation, crude oil prices rebounded sharply, and DES Northeast Asia prices were again on the rise. Brent crude, the base price for term contracts, rose to around $100.00 during Asian trading hours on Thursday. Sources estimated that, if a 13.5% slope were applied and various costs of 50cts were added, term import costs for DES Northeast Asia would be around $14.00. As spot supply/demand were expected to remain tight for the time being, sources believed spot prices for Northeast Asia might remain above this term price. A Japanese analyst stated, "End-users are able to cover demand since it is now the shoulder season, a period of low demand, but if this continues for a long time, prices may soar in the summer."

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

State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) bought a cargo for second-half March delivery in the high $17's to $18.00 via its DES buy tender closed on Wednesday.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

US-based New Fortress Energy (NFE) closed an FOB-based sell tender on Mar 11 targeting one cargo for mid-June loading from the 1.4 mil mt/year Altamira First LNG Project in Mexico. The company also invited bids on a DES basis.