An LNG Carrier turns around to Europe for Energy battle heat up

The Russian-Ukrainian war has exacerbated the energy crisis, and the global energy competition has intensified. As the price of natural gas in Europe has soared, LNG ships bound for Asia have to pay high tolls to turn around twice through the Panama Canal to Europe. 

According to foreign media reports, the LNG carrier “British Listener” chartered by British Petroleum (BP) left the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas on March 21 and passed through the Panama Canal to go to Asia. Changed course on 1 January, and returned to the Panama Canal again for Gibraltar.

Such turns are uncommon, and ships need to pay a $1 million toll to pass through the Panama Canal again. However, due to the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the price of natural gas in Europe in April has been much higher than that in Asia, so changing the course and selling LNG to Europe can obtain greater benefits.

From April 1, Russia has demanded payment in rubles for gas exports to Europe, which many countries have rejected. At the same time, European countries are also actively exploring new sources of natural gas supply to reduce their dependence on Russia for energy use, while the demand for LNG exported by the United States continues to soar.

A similar case occurred in the market in January this year, when the price of natural gas in Europe was also higher than in Asia. Suspicions linger over Russian gas supplies as the Russia-Ukraine war continues, economic factors that send about two-thirds of U.S. gas to Europe.

Peter Rosenthal, head of power and North American gas at consultancy Energy Aspects, said: “This is in line with our forecast for a record high European LNG import this year, driven by recent month futures trading prices on the Dutch Gas Exchange (TTF) since April, which are higher than The Asian LNG price indicator Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) is high, with a premium of $3.5 per million British thermal units (mmBtu).”

Although the United States calls on Europe to achieve energy independence, it hopes to cut off Russia’s energy supply chain to the EU. If Europe wants to import U.S. natural gas, it can only be carried by ships. Considering the current import trade data, the carrying capacity of LNG carriers will be a big challenge.

Source: eworldship

一艘LNG船再次掉头驶往欧洲！能源争夺战白热化

俄乌战争加剧能源危机，全球能源争夺战趋于白热化。随着欧洲天然气价格飙升，让驶往亚洲的LNG船不惜支付高昂的通行费掉头两度穿越巴拿马运河驶往欧洲。

据外媒报道，由英国石油公司（BP）租赁的LNG船“British Listener”号在3月21日驶离得克萨斯州Freeport LNG码头，穿过巴拿马运河准备前往亚洲，在航行两周后却于4月1日改变航向，再次返回巴拿马运河驶往直布罗陀。

这样的转向并不常见，而且船舶需要支付100万美元的通行费才能再次通过巴拿马运河。不过，由于俄乌危机影响，欧洲4月天然气价格已经远高于亚洲，因此改变航向将LNG售往欧洲能够获取更大利益。

从4月1日开始，俄罗斯要求输往欧洲的天然气以卢布支付，这遭到许多国家的拒绝。与此同时，欧洲各国也在积极探索新的天然气供应来源， 减少对俄罗斯能用依赖，与此同时美国出口的 LNG 需求持续飙升。

今年1月，市场上也发生过类似案例，当时欧洲天然气价格同样高于亚洲。随着俄乌战争持续，各界对俄罗斯供应天然气的疑虑挥之不去，这些经济因素使美国约三分之二的天然气运往欧洲。

咨询公司Energy Aspects电力和北美天然气主管Peter Rosenthal表示：“这和我们对今年欧洲LNG进口量创新高的预测一致，背后原因是4月以来的荷兰天然气交易中心（TTF）最近月期货交易价格，比亚洲LNG价格指针Japan/Korea Marker（JKM）高，每百万英热单位（mmBtu）溢价3.5美元。”

虽然美国呼吁欧洲实现能源自主，希望切断俄国对欧盟的能源供应链。欧洲要进口美国天然气，只能通过船舶载运，考虑到目前进口贸易量的数据，LNG运载船的载运能力将是一大挑战。

来源：国际船舶网