Platts: Brazil LNG buying shifts as European reloads slow

Brazilian imports of liquefied natural gas from Europe are down 42% month on month as recent reload activity in Western Europe has slowed significantly, data from Platts and Bentek Energy showed Wednesday.

So far this month, Brazil has imported 436,304 cubic meters of LNG (265.7 million cu m or 9.38 Bcf of gas) from European ports in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Spain, down from imports of 749,700 cu m in May.

Despite the reduction in European reload activity, Brazilian LNG buying is already up 10% from May to June. Historically low hydroelectric reservoir levels, which supply 75-80% of Brazil's power, combined with an increase in demand for electricity from the 2014 FIFA World Cup games, has put the country's power supply under strain.

Amid the slowdown in European reload activity, Brazil has turned to Nigeria to fill the shortfall. June imports from the African nation are already up 427% from May, to 728,100 cu m, the largest monthly import volume on record.
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