06 September 2012, Sweetcrude, LAGOS – NIGERIA has launched a sell tender for one cargo of liquefied natural gas, LNG, on the spot market, loading in mid-October, industry sources said.
The tender for the standard-sized 140,000-cubic metre cargo closes on September 11 and loading is due between October 13-14, Reuters reports, quoting one of the sources as saying on Wednesday.
Nigeria LNG did not immediately reply to emailed requests for information.
Africa’s top oil producer, which is also the world’s seventh-biggest LNG exporter, loads tankers from its Bonny Island liquefaction plant in the Niger Delta for export to Europe, Asia and the United States.
Nigeria has targeted gas exports into Asia over the past year to take advantage of the biggest price differentials to Europe since 2009.
Falling demand from top importers Japan and South Korea since May, combined with increased shipping costs, has made sales into Asia less profitable, however.
The price differential has narrowed to the point where the cost of shipping now outweighs Asia’s premium over Europe.
Nigeria LNG cancelled a sell tender last month after receiving offers that were deemed too low, while global prices have deteriorated even further since then, a trade source said.
Asian spot LNG prices dived to $12.80 a million British thermal units (mmBtu) last week, compared with a four-year high of $18/mmBtu in May. UK gas prices are about $9.50/mmBtu.
The stakeholders in Nigeria LNG are state-run energy firm NNPC with 49 percent, Shell (25.6 percent), Total (15 percent) and Eni (10.4 percent).
