Pricewatch | 8 Jan 2021 | Gas Matters Today

Asian LNG prices continue their stratospheric ascent amid ongoing frenzied winter buying. Platts’ JKM benchmark has risen to record highs above USD 20/MMBtu amid reports of cargoes changing hands for as much as USD 36/MMBtu, and CME’s JKM futures contract is duly following suit. The February contract yesterday rose by nearly 11% to hit USD 17.25/MMBtu, its highest price on record, with further upside potential as freight rates rise to highs of USD 350,000 per day.

European gas hubs reversed their recent corrections, gaining almost 10% yesterday to recoup losses incurred earlier in the week. UK NBP and Dutch TTF settled the session at the equivalent of USD 7.87/MMBtu and USD 6.94/MMBtu, respectively.

Crude oil prices were largely stable on Thursday, with Brent and WTI retaining gains accumulated after Saudi Arabia declared a unilateral voluntary production cut despite concerns that Covid-19 infection rates are soaring around the world and more countries are going back into lockdown and tightening travel restrictions.

As anticipated in yesterday’s Pricewatch, the European carbon price duly hit a fresh all time high of EUR 34.64/tonne after gaining 3.4% in Thursday’s session.

Front-month futures and indexes at last close with day-on-day changes (click to enlarge):

Time references based on London GMT. Brent, WTI, NBP, TTF and EU CO₂ data from ICE. Henry Hub, JKM and API2 data from CME. Prices in USD/MMBtu based on exchange rates at last market close. All monetary values rounded to nearest whole cent/penny. Text and graphic copyright © Gas Strategies, all rights reserved.