Platts: Spot LNG Prices for June Delivery Fell 8.0% on Low Demand

SINGAPORE, May 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for June delivery to Asia fell 8.0% to an average $14.316 per million British thermal units (/MMBtu), according to the just-released Platts Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) for month-ahead delivery. The decline followed unseasonably warm temperatures across much of northeast Asia which weighed on demand. The data reflects the daily Platts JKM for June assessed between April 16 and May 15, expressed as a monthly average.

The Platts JKM for June was 1.7% less than the June 2013 average of $14.565/MMBtu, which followed the year's low of $14.15/MMBtu on May 15, 2013.

The JKM for June 2014 delivery began the trading month at $14.875/MMBtu before closing at $13.625/MMBtu, the lowest level since November 2012.

"Northeast Asian buyers, particularly in Japan and South Korea, are still well supplied due to weaker than anticipated demand in early year," said Stephanie Wilson, managing editor of Asia LNG at Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider and a premier source of benchmark price references. "In addition, more LNG supplies are being made available for incremental demand from liquefaction projects in the Asia-Pacific basin, as a few buyers have chosen to take less volume from their term contracts."

"The loss of supply from Angola LNG will likely be offset by incremental volumes available from Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and the startup of the new Papua New Guinea LNG project in May," Wilson added.  

Meanwhile, the price of a competing fuel, thermal coal, was up 1.7% on a month-over-month basis, while fuel oil was down by 0.2% month-over-month during the April 16 to May 15 assessment period.

The Platts JKM is an assessment of LNG prices for spot cargoes delivered to Japan and South Korea, based on the most recent trades and/or bids and offers from buyers and sellers in the open market prevailing at the close of the trading day. The monthly JKM assessments are month-ahead delivered prices and are an average of the daily JKM price assessments reported by Platts.

For more information on natural gas or the methodology used by Platts in its power assessments, visit the Platts website www.platts.com.

Platts' monthly reports on Asia LNG prices and market developments are typically published shortly after the 15^th of each month.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets.  Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency.  Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets.  A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), Platts is based in London with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), a financial intelligence company, is a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for the global capital and commodity markets. Iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power and McGraw Hill Construction. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 29 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

SOURCE Platts

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