• Prices for Asian spot LNG imports have jumped to around $9/mn BTU for December arrival cargoes. December is the peak month for winter (and thus annual) buying.

• China is the key demand driver. Already for the first nine months of 2017, imports at 25.63mn tons, were up by a whopping 43% on the same period last year, and only just shy of the 26.15mn tons figure for 2016 as a whole (see chart 1). (CONTINUED - 396 WORDS)