Leticia Gonzales

South Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets stand to benefit from the recent shift to a globally oversupplied and lower-priced environment that has resulted from a mild winter and recent supply additions, particularly in the United States.

In a move to illustrate the European Union’s (EU) commitment to its joint agreement to strengthen diplomatic ties with the United States, the European Commission reported Friday that the EU has boosted U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports by 181% to 7.9 billion cubic meters (Bcm) since the agreement was announced last July.

Natural gas forward prices rose for a fourth consecutive week as frigid air blanketed much of the country and with more cold air possibly returning later this month, renewed storage fears emerged. April prices climbed an average 7 cents from March 1-5 while May and the summer strip (April-October) each tacked on an average of 6 cents, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

Dutch Title Transfer Facility, aka TTF, the European natural gas point of reference, set trading records on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) trading platform last month, which claimed it is paving the way for a possible transition to the global natural gas benchmark.

Natural gas forward prices rose for a fourth consecutive week as frigid air blanketed much of the country and with more cold air possibly returning later this month, renewed storage fears emerged. April prices climbed an average 7 cents from March 1-5 while May and the summer strip (April-October) each tacked on an average of 6 cents, according to NGI’s Forward Look.

The electric grid operator for Texas said record power consumption this summer and an increased chance of energy alerts would allow the operator to take advantage of additional resources if needed to meet demand.

While China is expected to remain the major growth engine for liquefied natural gas (LNG) through 2025, Europe is becoming an integral part of the global market as well, with imports reaching record levels in December, according to Societe Generale.

For the third week in a row, natural gas forward prices strengthened across the curve as what is expected to be one of the coldest starts to March in U.S. history could drive current storage deficits far lower before the start of the traditional injection season.

Natural gas futures continued to trade mostly sideways Thursday as much of the expected cold that was forecast to arrive this weekend has likely already been priced into the market. Meanwhile, a reported storage withdrawal that came in on the lower end of estimates sapped early gains, and the Nymex April gas futures contract went on to settle at $2.812, up just 1.3 cents. The balance of summer (May-October) also rose less than 2 cents to average $2.89.