Europe rush to secure gas sparks record high LNG ship rates 🚢📈
💰 The cost to charter an LNG ship in the Atlantic jumped to $397,500/day, according to @SparkCommo. That's a ~500% increase year-to-date
⚠️ Lack of ships is latest challenge for buyers
Europe’s gas storage sites are quickly filling in preparation for a winter without Russian fuel. With inventories nearing max capacity, traders are increasingly storing LNG in vessels at sea 🚢 🚢
Russia seizes control of another energy asset 🇷🇺⚠️
📝 Putin signed a decree to create a new Russian company to operate the Sakhalin-1 oil project
🇯🇵 Foreign stakeholders, like Japan’s government, will need to apply if they want to stay in the project
🏭 Sakhalin-1 is an oil complex that produced about 227,000 barrels/day last year
🚢 It has multiple records for the longest wells ever drilled, uses ice breakers to maintain exports when the sea freezes and was regarded as an engineering marvel when it started in 2005
🚢 Roughly 10 LNG cargoes from Malaysia will be lost through year-end due to the export disruption. While nothing to sneeze at, its still just a fraction of total exports
🇯🇵 Malaysia delivered 51 cargoes to Japan from Oct.-Dec. last year. Japan is the top buyer of Malaysian LNG
⚠️ Of course, this isn't good news for Japan, which imports basically all of its fuel and is grappling with a worsening energy shortfall
📢 The government is expected to call on residents and businesses to conserve energy this winter
Pakistan was unable to secure long-term LNG supply, threatening to prolong its fuel shortage 🇵🇰⚠️
🙅 No supplier participated in Pakistan’s tender to buy LNG for 4-6 years from 2023. Deadline was today
🚢 This highlights how there is little spare LNG supply until at least 2026
The lack of near-term LNG supply is a major threat to the emerging world
🇧🇩 Bangladesh said that producers indicated there is no supply until 2026
🇹🇭 Thailand issued a tender for a long-term LNG deal, but they set the start date from 2026
Russia's newest LNG export plant is sending its first shipment to Greece (?!)
🇷🇺🚢🇬🇷
🤔 That's a surprise destination since Europe is trying to curb dependence on Russia
🗺️ It isnt clear if the LNG buyer is Greece or a neighbor
🏭 Gazprom's Portovaya LNG plant started last month
Some caveats:
➡️ The vessel is *poised* to go to Greece. But that could change depending on scheduling and trading
➡️ The shipment could be diverted to Turkey or another location
LNG supply could divert to Asia if the EU implements a strict gas price cap 🇪🇺 🚢
🇩🇪 That’s why Germany’s finance minister suggests a cap that’s “noticeably higher” than LNG prices
🥊 Europe and Asia compete for LNG, and supply goes where prices are high
The EU is considering a price cap on gas to quickly help contain the energy crisis
Still, capping gas prices (a move urged by more than a half of member states) risks not only curbing overseas LNG supply, but increasing demand for the fuel
Governments rush to bolster security around energy assets after Nord Stream blasts
🇺🇸 US says LNG ships going to Europe must be on high alert
🇩🇪 Germany says energy plants face security threat
🇳🇴 Norway says “abnormally high” drone activity near assets
🇩🇪 German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the government in Berlin has for months been preparing to counter threats to the country’s energy infrastructure
🇺🇸 “Everybody should be on high alert,” US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said
🚢 Asked whether US LNG shipments to Europe also need to take more precautions, Granholm said: “Of course. We have to be on heightened alert.”