U.S. exchange operator CME Group and LNG player Cheniere Energy reached a deal to develop an LNG futures contract with physical delivery to Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal first started exports in February 2016, and currently operates four trains capable of producing 18 million tonnes of LNG per year.
A fifth train is under construction and a sixth is fully permitted, representing up to 27 million tonnes per year of LNG capacity at the site.
“In recent years, the shale revolution has unlocked abundant supplies of natural gas here in the U.S., creating new risks and opportunities for producers, processors, consumers and traders,” Peter Keavey, CME Group Global Head of Energy said in a statement.
“Through its Sabine Pass liquefaction facility, Cheniere is delivering Henry Hub-indexed natural gas to the world in the form of LNG. This agreement with Cheniere is significant because it will be the foundation for developing a new LNG risk management tool for producers, consumers and traders around the globe, while further cementing the role of Henry Hub Natural Gas futures as the global gas pricing benchmark,” Keavey said.
The average price for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes imported into Japan, contracted in the month of June, have rebounded after a drop in May.
Data released by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry shows the average base price of spot LNG cargoes imported into Japan, that have been contracted in June was at $9.3 per mmBtu, up from $8.2 per mmBtu in May.
For comparison, METI does not have contract-based price data for June 2017 as there were not enough cargoes contracted during the month.
In terms of prices of the LNG cargoes arriving into Japan in June, the price stood at 8.9 per mmBtu, up from $7.9 mmBtu in May 2018.
Compared to the arrival-based price recorded in June 2017, of $5.6 per mmBtu, the June 2018 figure represents a 58.9 percent increase.
Only spot LNG cargoes are taken into account in this assessments, excluding short, medium and long-term contract cargoes, as well as those linked to a particular price index.
Orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers surged in the first half of this year as compared to the same period in 2017.
According to the data by VesselsValue provided to LNG World News, 22 LNG vessels worth $3.97 billion have been ordered in the first half of this year. This compares to eight LNG carriers worth $930 million ordered in the six-month period last year.
VesselsValue notes that this data does not include options or letter of intents (LOIs) such as the Marinakis deal for 10 LNG vessels placed last week. It also excludes FLNG or FSRUs.
The first-half orders include 21 large LNG carrier and one small-scale vessel. The total capacity of the ordered LNG fleet stands at 3.68 million cubic meters, according to the data.
TMS Cardiff Gas placed orders for five LNG newbuilds in the period under review while GasLog ordered three LNG carriers.
The list of owners that ordered LNG carriers in the first half includes BW Gas, Alpha Gas, Seatankers, Minerva Marine, Knutsen, Sovcomflot etc.
The global LNG fleet currently counts 602 vessels including 96 LNG carriers on order, VesselsValue data shows.
These figures include large LNG carriers, midsize and small-scale vessels and RLNG.
The data also shows that the total operational capacity of the $53.1 billion-worth live LNG fleet amounts to 76.8 million cubic meters.
Including the ships on order, the global LNG fleet is worth some $71.2 billion with a total capacity of 91.9 million cubic meters, VesselsValue data says.
