LNG Bunker Snapshot: Rotterdam LNG bunker price gains amid supply risks

Singapore-ARA spread narrows to $131/mt

TTF surges amid supply risks

Singapore LNG stable after consecutive declines

Weekly changes in LNG bunker prices:

• Rotterdam up by $80/mt to $1,209/mt
• Singapore up by $1/mt to $1,340/mt
• Baltics up by $81/mt to $1,315/mt

Rotterdam

Rotterdam’s LNG bunker price has risen to $1,209/mt, supported by a sharp 6% increase in the assessed LNG bunker premium, which climbed from $98/mt to $105/mt.

Prices were also supported by a 7% rise in the front-month Dutch TTF Natural Gas contract, the key benchmark for European gas markets.

The TTF increase came as “the number of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz declined sharply following attacks on vessels in the strait”, according to the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC).

“Fading optimism over a potential deal between the US and Iran has also seen European natural gas prices surge higher once again,” two analysts from ING Bank said.

“Supply concerns are big at the moment, with the closure of Hormuz of course as the biggest threat,” Mind Energy commented.

Low gas storage levels and forecasts of high temperatures across Europe also supported prices, JOGMEC added.

The EU’s underground gas storage facilities were 60.4% full on 14 August, up from 58.6% a week earlier. However, stored volumes were 17.7% lower than a year earlier, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

“The pressure on the European gas market grows, with a new heatwave approaching the continent, and with storage levels far below seasonal average,” Mind Energy said.

Concerns over reduced supply due to unscheduled maintenance at the Kollsnes gas-related facility in Norway have also added upward pressure to prices, according to JOGMEC.

“Beyond geopolitics, price pressure is mounting as Europe faces an extended Norwegian gas outage amid a further widening storage gap,” said Jan-Eric Fahnrich, analyst at Rystad Energy’s Gas & LNG Research.

Singapore

Singapore’s LNG bunker price has stabilised after declining for two consecutive weeks.

The front-month NYMEX Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) contract has risen by $0.10/MMBtu over the past week. However, the increase was offset by an approximately 2% decline in the assessed bunker delivery premium, which now stands at $4.54/MMBtu ($236/mt).

Singapore’s LNG bunker price premium over Rotterdam has narrowed significantly, falling from $210/mt to $131/mt over the past week. Singapore’s price remained broadly stable, while Rotterdam’s edged higher.

“Geopolitical risks stemming from a stalemate in negotiations over the situation in the Middle East,” have supported JKM, according to JOGMEC.

“North Asia LNG prices rose as the US and Iran hardened their positions, dimming hopes of a quick resumption of gas flows through the waterway,” ANZ Bank’s senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes commented.

Elsewhere in the LNG bunkering sector, Italian shipping company Fratelli Cosulich is set to take delivery of the two remaining methanol-capable bunker tankers by May 2027.

Bunker supplier Shell has added Spain’s Port of Valencia to its LNG bunkering network after successfully completing its first LNG bunkering operation at the port.

Mexican LNG company Énestas will provide operational support to Power LNG’s proposed LNG bunkering facility at the Port of Galveston in Texas.

Meanwhile, a dual-fuel cruise ship operated by Monaco-headquartered Silversea Cruises has been bunkered with LNG in a ship-to-ship (STS) operation at Italy’s Port of Civitavecchia.

Belgian tanker shipping company Somtrans has also launched a new LNG bunker barge at China’s Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (CIMCSOE) shipyard.

By Tuhin Roy

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