Lng Trade News

Several shipping companies and a few liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers have decided to avoid the world's main East-West trade route, following attacks launched by Yemen's Houthi group on commercial ships at the southern end of the Red Sea.The attacks raised the specter of another bout of disruption to international commerce following the upheaval of the COVID pandemic, and prompted a U.S.-led international force to patrol waters near Yemen.IS THE RED SEA ROUTE IMPORTANT FOR…

Yemen's Houthis have been targeting vessels in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait in attacks that the Iran-aligned group says aim to support the Palestinians as Israel and Hamas wage war.Several freight firms including MSC, the world's largest container shipping line, said they would avoid the Suez Canal as a result, which could mean having to circumnavigate Africa instead.War risk insurance premiums have risen as a result.WHAT ARE THE RECENT HOUTHI ATTACKS?* Dec.

Woodside Energy has reached agreement with three Australian maritime unions on the Australian crewing of an LNG vessel.The agreement with the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union – Maritime Union of Australia Division; the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers; and the Australian Maritime Officers Union preserves a role for Australian-resident seafarers in the maritime industry delivering LNG to customers across Asia.The agreement will support employment of around 70 Australian-resident seafarers on an LNG carrier within Woodside’s chartered fleet.

PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) has received confirmation from TotalEnergies of the exercise of its option for two further next-generation 174,000-cubic-meter-capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

The Suez Canal, blocked by a giant container ship that ran aground on Tuesday, is the quickest sea route between Asia and Europe and about 15% of global shipping traffic moves through it.The 193-km (120-mile) waterway, run by the state-owned Suez Canal Authority, is a vital source of foreign currency for Egypt.How much oil goes through the canal?Of the 39.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil imported by seaborne methods in 2020, 1.74 million bpd went through the Suez Canal…

Freezing temperatures across Asia and Europe are driving liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices to record highs and pushing up the cost of shipping the fuel globally as buyers grapple with tight inventories and a shortage of tankers.Demand for super-cooled natural gas has surged in recent years as buyers, particularly China and India, move away from dirtier coal-polluting power plants. Prices had remained relatively low until late 2019, when unexpected cold weather and bottlenecked shipments caused prices to surge.Spot Asian LNG prices are up more than 1…

During the fourth quarter of 2019, spot LNG freight rates continued to strengthen with average reported headline rates for MEGI/X-DF LNG carriers increasing by 66% from $74,800 per day to $123,800 per day, according to Flex LNG.Rates increased steadily due to higher demand preparing for winter in Northern Asia, as well as continued floating storage, Flex LNG said.Trading patterns and LNG pricing however, continue to favor Europe as the main destination for incremental uncommitted LNG volumes due to the low spread in gas prices between Asia and Europe, as well as greater infrastructure capacity in Europe for regasification and storage.According to industry sources…

Supported by low LNG prices, the LNG spot and short term market continues to represent an ever increasing share of global LNG trade, said Golar LNG, a liquefied natural gas shipping company registered in Bermuda."Continued strong growth in LNG production around the world and associated lower pricing together with customer’s increased focus on their ESG responsibility is also accelerating their appetite to switch from burning coal, fuel oil and diesel to cheaper and cleaner LNG," Iain Ross, CEO, Golar LNG, said.Dominated by US projects, 114mtpa of new liquefaction capacity is slated to come on stream between 2020 and 2025. Based on current…

The exceptional growth in LNG trade recorded in the first half of the 2019 continued in Q3, says Awilco LNG Group, the Norwegian based fully integrated pure play LNG transportation provider.According to Fearnleys LNG total LNG trade is up about 13 % in the first nine months of the year vs last year. In line with normal seasonal patterns gas prices inched upwards in Q3 but remained historically low due to increased production and muted demand in the Far East.Due to a relatively mild winter reducing gas demand for power generation and higher nuclear power generation in Japan and South Korea, LNG imports decreased by 8 and 9 % y-o-y Jan-Sept respectively…

The global search for lower carbon forms of energy and demand for cost-effective ways to serve power demand in emerging markets and remote locations is driving interest in floating storage and regasification units (FSRU).FSRUs are a faster and more flexible way to import natural gas to power-constrained places, so demand for the units is increasing and the business case for owning them is growing stronger.Their model for supplying energy and transport fuel is historically well proven: they offer faster development timelines and lower initial capital costs compared to onshore regasification…

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued the order granting authorization for siting and constructing of the proposed on-water Jacksonville liquefied natural gas (LNG) Export Facility, developer Eagle LNG Partners LLC announced.The LNG export facility and terminal, planned in Jacksonville, Florida, will have a production capacity of approximately 1.65 million LNG-gallons per day with 12 million LNG-gallons of storage plus marine- and truck-loading capabilities located on-site.“The FERC authorization for Eagle LNG’s Jacksonville LNG Export facility has been many years and countless hours in the making. As one of only a handful of greenfield LNG project proponents to obtain their FERC Order…

Total oil flows through the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline accounted for about 9% of total seaborne traded petroleum in 2017, and LNG flows through the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline accounted for about 8% of global LNG trade."The Suez Canal and the SUMED Pipeline are strategic routes for Persian Gulf crude oil, petroleum products, and LNG shipments to Europe and North America," U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.Located in Egypt, the Suez Canal connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea, and is considered as a key choke-point due to the large volumes of energy commodities that flow through it.Choke-points are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes that are critical to global energy security…

Lloyd's Register (LR), the technical and business services organization and a maritime classification society, said that it is is collaborating with COSCO Shipping LNG Investment, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, Jiangnan Shipyard, MARIC, SSSRI and CCS to develop 220k LNG carrier with Mark III containment system.LR has signed an agreement with COSCO Shipping LNG Investment (Shanghai) Co., COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd, Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd. (JN), Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC), Shanghai Ship and Shipping Research Institute (SSSRI) and China Classification Society (CCS) to design and develop the first 220k LNG carrier with a GTT Mark III membrane containment system.The seven parties will use their expertise…

During the first quarter 2019, spot LNG freight rates plummeted from the record levels seen in the previous quarter, said Flex LNG, the company controlled by billionaire John Fredriksen.Asia winter demand came in lower than expected due to an unseasonably mild weather in northern Asia, coupled with Japanese nuclear power plants restarting as well as an oversupplied LNG market due to start-up of new LNG production, said the emerging player in the LNG shipping.Asian LNG prices moved lower, trading closer to or at par with key US and European LNG markers, preventing arbitrage opportunities between the markets. Despite significant growth in liquefaction and exported volumes…

Höegh LNG Partners, a provider of floating liquid natural gas (LNG) services under long-term contracts, said that with new LNG production facilities in the US and around the world coming on stream, global LNG trade continues to increase.This, together with competitive LNG pricing and environmental arguments, are driving interest in FSRUs world-wide, said the company which owns and operates floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) which act as floating LNG import terminals. "With an established platform of long-term contracts, Höegh LNG Partners is in a strong position to maintain its leadership position in the FSRU sector and fund incremental growth opportunities as they crystalize…

Global liquefied natural gas (LNG)  shipping demand in Q1 209 was essentially flat compared to Q1 2018 and coupled with a 10 % growth in the fleet since Q1 2018 rates suffered, said Awilco LNG Group.A relatively warm winter in the Far East and high storage levels in China and South Korea resulted in muted gas buying interest in the quarter and the downward gas price pressure seen in Q4 2018 continued throughout Q1 2019, said the Norwegian owner of LNG carriers.Due to weak demand and ample cargo availability Asian LNG futures prices for Q2 2019 delivery continued falling until early April, at which point buyers started positioning for the seasonally stronger summer months.Global LNG trade including reloads is estimated by Fearnleys LNG to have increased by about 8-9 % in Q1 y-o-y…

Texas-based natural gas company Tellurian has announced that the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has issued the long-term authorisation for Driftwood LNG to export domestically produced LNG from its proposed export facility to non-free trade agreement (non-FTA) countries.U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said, “I am pleased to announce the order signed today authorizing Driftwood, owned by Tellurian Inc., to export up to 3.88 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas as LNG, to any country that does not have a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.""The United States is now in its third consecutive year as a net exporter of natural gas, now exporting domestic LNG to 35 countries.

The United States has nearly tripled its natural-gas exports to the European Union (EU) since July and signed new licenses seeking to establish American energy as an EU mainstay. US exports of LNG surged following a meeting between Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker in July 2018.In their Joint Statement of 25 July 2018 in Washington D.C., President Juncker and President Trump agreed to strengthen EU-U.S. strategic cooperation with respect to energy. They came in particular to an understanding on the benefits of expanded exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU gas market.Since the first cargo in April 2016 U.S. LNG exports…

The United States is set to drive the global oil supply growth over the next 5 years, thanks to the strength of its shale industry, triggering a rapid transformation of world oil markets, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).IEA said that oil exports from the United States will overtake Russia and close in on Saudi Arabia, bringing greater diversity of supply, by the end of the forecast.While global oil demand growth is set to ease, in particular as China slows down, it still increases an annual average of 1.2 mb/d to 2024, according to the report, Oil 2019. Still, the IEA continues to see no peak in oil demand, as petrochemicals and jet fuel remain the key drivers of growth…

Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply is set to rise by 35 million tons (mt) in 2019, Trend reports with reference to forecasts of Royal Dutch Shell. Acording to Shell’s latest annual LNG Outlook, Europe and Asia are expected to absorb all this additional supply.Strong demand for cleaner-burning fuel in Asia continued to drive rapid growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) use in 2018, with global demand rising by 27 million tons to 319 million tons, according to Shell’s latest annual LNG Outlook. Shell expects demand to reach about 384 million tons in 2020. A rebound in new long-term LNG contracting in 2018 could revive investment in liquefaction projects.Based on current demand projections…

China LNG demand soars amid push to reduce pollution; LNG demand to reach 384 mln tonnes in 2020 -Shell.Global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade is set to rise 11 percent this year as China leads a global drive to reduce pollution and tackle carbon emissions, Royal Dutch Shell said in an annual LNG report on Monday.Shell's forecasts, which see LNG demand rising to 354 million tonnes this year and to 384 million tonnes in 2020, reflect a burgeoning industry with new production facilities opening in Australia…

Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) delivered the Shinshu Maru, a 177,000 m3 capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport vessel for use by Trans Pacific Shipping 7 Limited.Trans Pacific Shipping 7 is a joint venture between JERA Co., Inc. and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line)."This large-scale LNG carrier is equipped with four independent Moss LNG tanks for a total cargo capacity of 177,277 m3. By increasing the LNG tank diameter to the maximum installable limit and utilizing stretched tanks, Kawasaki has successfully expanded the maximum LNG carrying capacities of carriers designed to pass through the newly expanded Panama Canal…

The floating LNG services provider Höegh LNG Holdings announced that it has entered into a time charter party with Australian utility company AGL Shipping Pty for the provision of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to facilitate its proposed Gas Import Jetty project at Crib Point, Victoria, Australia.The project is targeting start up in 2020 – 2021, said a press note.The charter is for a period of 10 years and remains conditional on the board of directors of AGL Shipping's parent company AGL Energy Ltd. taking a final investment decision in relation to the project and receipt by the charterer of key environmental project…