Gas-Hungry Europe to Get Rare LNG Shipment Reloaded From China
(Bloomberg) -- A liquefied natural gas shipment reloaded from China — the world’s top buyer of the fuel — is heading to Europe, a rare move that highlights the continent’s push to refill dwindling inventories.
The Seapeak Glasgow tanker loaded a cargo from the Zhejiang Ningbo terminal in late January and was headed south toward Singapore, signaling Europe as its next destination, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Vessel tracking firm Kpler also showed the ship heading to the continent.
If delivered, it would mark the first time reloaded LNG from China has been sent to Europe in four years. Europe’s LNG imports have surged to a seasonal high this year, as the region is turning to the seaborne fuel to replace a drop in Russian pipeline deliveries after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
It isn’t guaranteed that Seapeak Glasgow will offload the fuel in Europe, as it is common for ships to change course or be resold to other buyers.
While China is the largest LNG importer, its demand has lagged over the last year as the nation’s end-users turn to cheaper alternatives. Chinese importers have maintained high inventories through winter, and have opted to resell shipments from their terminals to other Asian nations.
China’s CNOOC Ltd. has sold shipments for reloading over the past few weeks. Australia has also sent three cargoes toward South America or Europe in the past month. The movements signal that Asian demand remains weak, and LNG will flow to buyers willing to pay more.
More News:
- Gulf is seeking to purchase two LNG cargoes on a DES basis for April delivery to Thailand
- Most of Japan, particularly the eastern region, is likely to experience warmer-than-normal weather through March 13, according to a forecast the country’s meteorological agency
Drivers:
- US natural gas futures settled higher, breaking a three-day falling streak, as traders weighed expectations for another larger-than-normal storage withdrawal against a shift in forecasts to show milder weather in the coming weeks
- China’s 30-day moving average for LNG imports on Feb. 11 was 179k tons, 12% higher than a year ago, according to ship-tracking data
- European gas storage levels were ~36% full on Feb. 10, compared with the five-year seasonal average of ~52%
- Europe’s 30-day moving average for LNG imports was 252k tons/day on Feb. 11, 44% higher than the five-year seasonal average, according to ship-tracking data
- Estimated flows to all US export terminals were ~19.4 bcf/day on Feb. 11, down ~1% w/w: BNEF
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