SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters): Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices slipped to a near three-year low this week, as inventories in Europe remain at healthy levels and buying activity in northeast Asia was subdued due to the Lunar New Year holidays.
Industry sources estimated that the average LNG price for April delivery into north-east Asia eased $0.70, or 7.4 per cent, this week to $8.80/mmBtu, its lowest levels since end-April 2021.
Asia spot prices have halved since mid-October, pressured by high stockpiles and tepid demand in Europe and northeast Asia.
"There's not much change in the Asian market right now - LNG activity and imports in northeast Asia remained relatively low this week due to the Lunar New Year holidays," said Ryhana Rasidi, an analyst at data and analytics firm Kpler.
She added that a mixed weather outlook is forecast in the coming days, with a cold wave expected in China but milder weather seen for Japan and South Korea.
Colder weather could increase power demand for heating purposes, leading to more usage of the super-chilled fuel.
In Europe, S&P Global Commodity Insights assessed its daily North West Europe LNG Marker (NWM) price benchmark for cargoes delivered in March on an ex-ship (DES) basis at $7.372/mmBtu on Feb. 15, a $0.505/mmBtu discount to the March gas price at the Dutch TTF hub.
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