(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
Doha: Asian spot liquefied natural gas prices were down last week despite news that COVID-19 lockdowns in China may ease as players await an actual rebound in procurement activity to meet Autumn-Winter seasonal demand. The average LNG price was estimated at $22.40 per metric million British thermal units (mmBtu), down $0.95 from the previous week, industry sources said.
Meanwhile, in Europe, concerns about Russian pipeline supply have slightly receded on signs that some European buyers are paying for Russian gas via a new payment mechanism. Half of Russian gas giant Gazprom's 54 clients have opened accounts at Gazprombank, as European companies approach imminent payment deadlines.
LNG prices for a delivered ex-ship basis into Northwest Europe were assessed at $22.64 per mmBtu on May 19, at a discount of $6.01 per mmBtu to the July price on the Dutch gas TTF hub, analysts said.
Meanwhile, with the benchmark TTF gas price having retained a sizeable premium above spot Asian LNG prices for a month now, most European LNG-importing countries saw record-high imports for the month of April, and this is likely to remain a feature as long the premium remains in place.
Oil prices settled slightly higher on Friday as a planned European Union ban on Russian oil and easing of COVID-19 lockdowns in China countered concerns that slowing economic growth will hurt demand. Brent futures rose 51 cents, to $112.55 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.02, to settle at $113.23 a barrel. Brent gained about 1 percent this week and WTI was up 2.5 percent.
The EU is hoping to clinch a deal on a proposed ban of Russian crude imports which includes carve-outs for member states most dependent on Russian oil, such as Hungary. EU foreign ministers failed to pressure Hungary to lift its veto of a proposed oil embargo on Russia.
However, the odds of an EU embargo being declared sooner rather than later increased in the wake of Germany's success in cutting Russian oil imports by more than half in a very short period.
In China, Shanghai did not signal any change to its planned end of a prolonged city-wide lockdown on June 1 even though the city announced its first new COVID-19 cases outside quarantined areas in five days. The energy market expects the lifting of some coronavirus restrictions in Shanghai to boost energy demand. China is the world's top crude importer.
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