Global LNG Prices Hold Steady in Weak Trade
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices were little changed on Friday as mild demand and the extended holiday period kept a lid on trading activity. The spot price for February was steady at about $10.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), in line with the previous week. Traders said, however, that prices were nominal given there was limited activity. Brazil's state-run energy giant Petrobras has shown interest in purchasing spot cargoes, one trader said, but high inventories across Asia have kept buyers on the sidelines there. There were early signs of demand for cargoes delivering in March, the source said. The LNG market has been slowly declining since September as energy prices generally have been hit by a slide in oil.
Egypt Nears Deal for Algerian LNG Imports
Egypt expects to agree a deal to import liquified natural gas from Algeria as early as this week, ministry sources said on Monday, as the country seeks to ease a chronic energy shortage. The agreement for six Algerian cargoes of 145,000 cubic metres of LNG each could be signed on Monday or Tuesday during Minister Sherif Ismail's visit to Algiers, a ministry source told Reuters. Egypt struck a deal in November with Norway's Hoegh LNG for a floating storage and regasification unit that will allow the country to begin importing LNG, a natural gas chilled to minus 162 degrees Celsius into a liquid state. After repeated delays, it is expected to launch at the end of March. Securing supplies from gas-exporter Algeria is one option Egypt is pursuing to ease its worst energy crunch in decades.
Egyptian LNG Import Terminal Deal Finalized
Egypt finalized a deal with Norway's Hoegh LNG for a long-delayed liquefied natural gas import terminal on Monday that will eventually help the power-hungry country resolve a chronic energy shortage. However, the expected launch date for the floating storage and regasification unit was pushed back to the end of March, the latest in a series of delays over the past two years. Liquefied natural gas shipper Hoegh signed a five-year contract with Egypt's EGAS in Cairo at an event that included Egypt's oil minister and the Norwegian ambassador. The firm was initially looking to start up operations by the third quarter of 2014 but the project was delayed earlier this year. In September, the oil ministry said the terminal would be up and running by December.
