NO. 1: Japan’s LNG inventories have hit the lowest level in years. Stocks fell 5% week-over-week on March 24 to 1.52 million tons (Mt), according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. 

Stockpiles are below the five-year average of 2.14 Mt. Jera Co. Inc. was reportedly implementing planned outages at four gas-fired power plants this week after poor weather in Tokyo Bay delayed LNG deliveries.

The drop is likely to spur more purchases in the spot market, where prices recently remained relatively low, near $10/MMBtu.

NO. 2: Brent crude continued to charge higher Thursday adding to gains driven by OPEC-plus output cuts and stronger-than-expected global demand. 

Brent has climbed by roughly 10% this year and was trading above $87/bbl on Thursday. Wall Street banks...