The past six months have seen LNG shipping rates soar, with Asia Pacific day rates for a standard vessel rising significantly. While they have come off slightly, shipbrokers maintain that prompt availability for such a tanker is limited.
Such rates, in conjunction with a weakening JKM on a warmer-than-normal start to winter, have closed the arbitrage for US Gulf volumes to Asia. In addition, more LNG from the Atlantic Basin is bound for Europe, a trend that will gather momentum.
Madeline Jowdy, senior director, global gas and LNG for S&P Global Platts, examines the forces shaping the market.