LNG deliveries to Europe in October were the highest ever for that month, while rising LNG Atlantic-basin loadings could boost November imports even higher.
Firms delivered 10.7mn t of LNG to European terminals last month, the highest ever for any October and up from 8.66mn t in September, ship-tracking data from Kpler shows. Deliveries were above the 10mn t registered in October 2022, when importers scrambled to secure additional supply ahead of winter following the curtailment of Russian pipeline flows.
The Netherlands continued to be Europe's largest importer at 1.68mn t. France came in second at 1.65mn t, despite strikes disrupting operations at Elengy-operated terminals, especially in the first half of the month. And Spain was the third-largest destination for LNG, with 1.61mn t. Those imports were partly destined to build the country's LNG stocks ahead of the peak winter demand, although Spanish terminals might have also received deferred cargoes that could not deliver to France because of the strikes.
The stockfill at Spanish tanks rose to 67pc of capacity on 4 November from 56pc on 1 October.
The ramp up in LNG deliveries bolstered EU LNG sendout to 4.2 TWh/d in October from 3.9 TWh/d in September and 2.9 TWh/d a year earlier. Fast regasification contributed to limit storage withdrawals during cold spells and periods of limited wind and solar output throughout last month.
Record-high Atlantic-basin loadings in October could boost LNG deliveries to Europe in November despite the inter-basin arbitrage for sending US fob cargoes to Asia opening briefly around mid-October.
LNG loadings from export terminals in the Atlantic reached a record high of 14.83mn t of LNG — up from 12.50mn t in September — sustained by quicker exports from Plaquemines and Corpus Christi in the US and Bonny in Nigeria.
Some of those volumes could be directed to east of the Suez Canal after the inter-basin arbitrage opened for some market participants around mid-October for the first time since June. But the incentive to deliver Atlantic supply to Asia has waned since then, as higher charter rates, having doubled over the last two weeks, are making longer journeys to Asia uneconomical.
