The premium offered by northeast Asian delivered LNG markets over those in northwest Europe for prompt Atlantic loadings has this week slipped to its smallest since early May, as very low winter charter rates force European firms to bid higher compared to Asian buyers in order to secure cargoes.
The Argus Northeast Asia (ANEA) des price for December offered just a 39¢/mn Btu premium to the northwest Europe November des price on 7 October. The spread dropped to 33¢/mn Btu on 4 October — the smallest since 2 May — having been as much as $2.36/mn Btu on 19 September (see ANEA premium graph).
At least four LNG carriers loaded from US liquefaction terminals have diverted away from heading to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope to Europe instead over the last week, judging by shiptracking data from Kpler, likely stemming from the narrowing premium offered by Asian markets compared to Europe.
The inter-basin spread has tightened since mid-September largely because a rally in European delivered markets has not been matched by Asia. The northwest Europe November des price increased by $1.85/mn Btu over 19 September-7 October, largely as a result of extensions to Norwegian pipeline maintenance, incremental downward revisions in minimum temperature forecasts, and geopolitical concerns surrounding conflict in the Middle East. The corresponding ANEA price, on the other hand, was little changed over the same period, as warmer weather than the seasonal average curbed early heating gas demand.
Prompt shipping rates holding lower on the year has also forced European buyers to bid higher in order to compete with their Asian counterparts and ensure uncommitted Atlantic cargoes head for Europe. The prompt Argus Round Voyage rate (ARV2) for tri-fuel diesel-electric (TFDE) carriers in the Atlantic basin stood at $40,000/d today, compared to $130,000/d a year earlier (see ARV2 spot charter graph), with some firms even viewing additional shipping capacity as a sunk cost given the number of available vessels at present and difficulties subletting spare shipping capacity.
The quick delivery of newbuild LNG carriers this year, coupled with the lack of floating storage in Europe, has contributed to a very shallow contango in forward freight prices. Forward winter rates for two-stroke vessels delivering US LNG to northwest Europe (ARV5) peak at $81,000/d in December, having been revised lower from over $100,000/d at the start of September (see ARV2 winter rates graph). Weak charter rates mean European buyers will likely continue to have to bid higher relative Asian bids over the winter than in previous winters, when the freight market was tighter, particularly in instances of cold snaps or other events which would tighten the global LNG balance.
Europe's demand for LNG was consistently lower on the year over the second and third quarter of 2024, as Asian demand held the inter-basin arbitrage for US LNG mostly open. But imports to Europe are likely to step higher in the fourth quarter, with the arbitrage firmly shut.
Minimum temperatures across the northwest — where much of the region's heating demand emanates from — are forecast to hold below the seasonal average from mid-October onwards, which may spur gas consumption.
And the EU's underground gas storages are less full than a year earlier. Aggregate gas stocks stood at 1,083TWh on 1 October 2024, marginally lower than last year's 1091TWh, though both are above the EU-mandated 90pc target.
A lack of floating storage this year could limit deliveries later in the year however, with European receipts over the period in the past two years supported by the unwinding of floating storage, mainly in November and December, boosting supply as colder weather boosts heating demand.
