A LNG tanker leaves the dock after discharge at Petrochina's Dalian terminal in Liaoning
Low prices not luring Asian buyers back to LNG
Preferable nuclear and coal options suggest balanced Asian LNG market, at least over the summer
A sharp fall in Asia-Pacific LNG prices over the first quarter of 2023, to their lowest in nearly two years amid muted demand, has tempted some marginal buyers off the sidelines—but the lower prices will not be enough to spur major coal-to-gas switching in the region’s top purchasers of the fuel. The reversal in Asian spot LNG prices since the start of this year has been dramatic following last year’s record highs, when they traded at unprecedented premiums to oil-linked pricing and prompted China, Japan and South Korea to burn more coal for power generation to fill in electricity demand as gas imports decreased. Fast forward to this spring, and Asian inventories are now tracking levels that
Also in this section
27 September 2023
Regional industry body ANGEA remains bullish about Asia's adoption of gas and LNG, despite elevated prices and logistical challenges
26 September 2023
Half a century after the 1973 conflict, the world is dramatically different. But OPEC’s power remains
26 September 2023
Bottlenecks continue to constrain gas-rich Appalachia, and relief may not be in the pipeline
22 September 2023
Former executives and a successor company are accused of complicity in Sudanese war crimes in what is now South Sudan
