Indonesia's 7.6mn t/yr BP-operated Tangguh LNG facility is offering four LNG cargoes for June-July loading, through a tender that closes on 6 May.
The Tangguh LNG project in Indonesia's west Papua province is offering four cargoes on a fob basis for loading on 17, 22, 27 June, and on 2 July, or two cargoes on a des basis. But the delivery windows are unclear.
The firm was last in the market in March, when it offered four cargoes on a fob basis for loading during 28-29 April, 1-2 May, 3-4 May and 17-19 May, or three cargoes on a des basis for delivery over 6-8 May, 8-10 May and 12-14 May. But it is unclear if these cargoes were sold eventually.
This offer adds to a growing pool of availability for June and July cargoes, as summer restocking demand among traditional major importing region northeast Asia is poised to be lower this year. This is mainly owing to higher inventories after the winter season and more than sufficient contracted term deliveries, buyers in the region said. This is despite Japan and South Korea forecasting higher summer temperatures this year as compared to the previous year, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency and Korea Meteorological Administration on 23 April.
Spot prices have remained relatively rangebound at around high-$9s to low-$10s/mn Btu since the end of March despite weak demand. Spot prices have been tracking some strength in Dutch TTF contract prices, which has reduced importers' incentive to step up spot purchases since imported spot has no obvious price advantage. The front half-month of the ANEA — the Argus assessment for spot LNG deliveries to northeast Asia — was last assessed on 3 May at $9.955/mn Btu, lower by about 11¢/mn Btu from a week earlier, but about 71¢/mn Btu higher from a month earlier.
Spot demand has been mostly confined to south and southeast Asian importers. Most of southeast Asia is currently experiencing a heatwave, which is likely to continue driving spot LNG demand from firms like Thailand's state-controlled PTT. The firm has issued another tender seeking three deliveries over 1-2, 7-8 and 10-11 July that closed on 3 May. It may have awarded the tender, but further details are unclear, traders said.
