Hellenic Shipping News headline: LNG Becoming the Most Important Shipping Market of 2022
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/lng-becoming-the-most-i…
The LNG tanker market is expected to ride the existing “wave” of increased demand throughout the second half of the year. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal said that “amid Europe’s effort to cut its dependence on Russian gas, LNG has currently become the most geopolitically important fuel. As of July 27th, Gazprom shipments on the Nord Stream pipeline flow to 20% of its capacity, plummeting to 33cbm. TTF Forward 1 Month price has been rallying, following Gazprom’s announcement, to reach €208.5/MWh on August 2nd, +126% m-o-m, +493% y-o-y. Meanwhile, Germany’s power prices have soared to €370/MWh, while a year before they were trading below the €60/MWh benchmark, marking a surprising 617% y-o-y increase”.
According to Intermodal’s Research Analyst, Ms. Chara Georgousi, “increasing prices translate to mounting pressure on the EU to seek alternative power supplies, to keep the industry operating during the upcoming winter. Failing that and in case of an emergency, EU leaders have agreed on a mandatory 15% cut in gas consumption. Apart from the EU’s current main suppliers, namely the US (accounting for 47% of EU imports during 1H22), and Qatar (accounting for 15% of EU imports during 1H22), some minor suppliers are expected to increase their exports to the EU, thus diversifying the bloc’s alternative LNG sources.