Japan's LNG stockpiles above 5-yr average, buyers seek more cargoes
TOKYO, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Japan's liquefied natural gas inventories held by major electric utilities rose 14% from last week to 2.09 million tons as of Sept. 8, holding above the five-year average for this time of the year, data from the industry ministry showed.
However, buyers were seeking more cargoes for September, with above-average temperatures forecast until early October for Japan and South Korea, a Rystad Energy analyst said.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
Japan, the world's second biggest LNG buyer after China, mostly relies on mid- to long-term LNG contracts for supply but turns to the spot market for cargoes to meet demand during cold or hot weather peaks.
"Japan's JERA and Kansai Electric are seeking additional LNG in the spot market for September delivery, which is relatively prompt and is likely to command a slight premium to the market level due to limited prompt supply," Masanori Odaka, senior analyst with Rystad, said in a research note on Wednesday.
JERA, Japan's biggest power generator and top LNG buyer, and Kansai Electric 9503.T did not immediately reply to Reuters requests for comment.
According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Japan's five-year LNG stockpile averaged 1.99 million tons for this time of the year.
In the previous week, LNG stockpiles held by major electric utilities stood at 1.83 million tons, below the five-year average of 2.02 million tons for that time of the year, the data showed.
The data is based on the ministry's survey of the utilities.
At the end of September 2023, inventories dropped to 1.64 million tons, as hot weather persisted across the country spurring demand for air-conditioning.
Gas demand this month would be affected by plant outages. According to Odaka, a 595-megawatt (MW) unit at JERA's gas-fired Joetsu plant went offline on Sept. 9 due to electric equipment issues and a 243 MW unit at Shin-Nagoya's gas-fired plant was offline, but should be operational on Sept. 23.
JERA's 650-MW unit at the Yokosuka coal-fired plant has been offline since Sept. 4 due to equipment failure and currently has no planned restart date, Odaka's note said.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Sonali Paul)