Oil Markets Enter The ‘Red Zone’
12 Oct, 2018
OPEC & Global Markets
LNG Prices At Four-Year High Amid Soaring Demand
28 Sep 2018
Soaring demand for LNG, up a collective 14.5% from 2017’s record levels for the top five global buyers, has sent prices to the highest level since early 2015. With key new liquefaction plants delayed and booming Chinese demand showing no chance of slowing, are further rises in store?
The world’s top five global LNG buyers imported a record 145.5mn tons in the first eight months of 2018, up 14.5% on 2017’s record levels (see chart 1). The five countries – Japan, China, South Korea, India and Taiwan – collectively absorbed a whopping 70% of global LNG output over the period.
China, which only overtook South Korea as the world’s number two importer in the second half of 2017 (MEES, 2 March), has again been the star performer. The country’s LNG imports soared by almost 48% to 32.9mn tons for the first eight months of 2018 as coal to gas switching policies,...
Asian LNG Prices ($/Mn Btu, By Arrival Month)