Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices eased this week, amid a resumption of loading at Freeport LNG in the United States and rising inventory levels held by major Japanese utilities.

The average LNG price for September delivery into north-east Asia was at $12.00 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), industry sources estimated, down from $12.20/mmBtu last week.

Prices eased despite hot weather driving power demand in some parts of northeast Asia due to several factors, said Ana Subasic, analyst at data and analytics firm Kpler.

“These include the return of loadings at the U.S. Freeport LNG plant, high gas stock levels at Japanese power utilities, and weak demand in China.”

Freeport LNG’s export plant in Texas was on track to return to service on Thursday after shutting on Wednesday, according to LSEG data and a filing with Texas environmental regulators.

Freeport LNG had resumed shipments on Monday after shutting operations ahead of Hurricane Beryl, but said in a filing on Wednesday that it had to quickly reduce gas flow rates to zero due to a site trip.

In Japan, a major LNG importer, stockpiles held by major utilities rose to 2.35 million metric tons on July 21, according to the latest Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data.

This is 21% higher than a year earlier, and 7% above the five-year average of 2.19 million metric tons from 2019-2023.

A widening spread between Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) gas and Japan/Korea LNG prices implicates that demand for LNG in Asia is bigger than in Europe at the moment, said Hans Van Cleef, chief energy economist at PZ-Energy.

“Still, the spread remains relatively small, as tight market conditions continue to cap downside risks in gas prices in general in both Asia and Europe.”

In Europe, S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed its daily North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price benchmark for cargoes delivered in September on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $10.294/mmBtu on July 25, a $0.09/mmBtu discount to the September gas price at the Dutch TTF hub.

Argus assessed the September delivery price at $10.25/mmBtu, while Spark Commodities assessed the August delivery price at $9.98/mmBtu.

On LNG freight, Atlantic rates fell for a third consecutive week to $75,000/day on Friday, said Spark Commodities analyst Qasim Afghan.

Pacific rates, however, saw a fifth consecutive weekly increase, rising to $72,750/day.

Source: Reuters, reported by Emily Chow and edited by Varun H K