At least five cargoes of liquefied natural gas have been diverted from Asia to Europe in recent days, lured by rising gas prices on the continent after Russian company Gazprom cut off deliveries to the Austrian company OMV, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.
On Saturday, Gazprom cut off deliveries to OMV, Austria’s main gas importer, after the latter threatened to seize some of the Russian state-owned company’s gas as compensation for an arbitration it won over a dispute contractual.
Gazprom informed OMV of the planned shutdown on Friday, which caused
European gas prices on the Dutch TTF platform have climbed, making it more profitable to send gas to Europe rather than Asia.
“The JKM-TTF spread moved into negative territory last week due to concerns over gas supplies from Russian pipelines and an impending cold snap, leading traders to divert cargoes of LNG from Asia to Europe,” said Laura Page, head of gas and LNG analytics at Kpler.
The first-month benchmark contract at the Dutch TTF center was trading at 46.00 euros per megawatt hour on Monday, or $14.49 per mmBtu, the highest level since November 23, 2023. The Asian benchmark contract Japan Korea Marker ( JKM) was trading at around $14/mmBtu, according to LSEG data.
The LNG tanker Vivert City, which loaded a cargo from Equatorial Guinea and was heading to Bangladesh, diverted on Friday and is now heading to the UK’s South Hook terminal.
The LNG carrier Gaslog Windsor, which had a cargo of US LNG from Sabine Pass and was initially heading to China, changed destinations on Friday and is now heading to the UK’s Isle of Grain terminal.
The tanker BW Lesmes had a cargo from Nigeria and was initially heading to China, but changed direction to the UK’s Isle of Grain terminal.
“One of the main reasons ships are heading to the UK is likely that the UK terminals were not as busy as some of the main continental terminals, meaning there were more unloading slots available to traders when deciding to divert Asian cargoes to Europe,” said Alex Froley, senior LNG analyst at market intelligence firm ICIS.
The Diamond Gas Crystal, originally destined for South Korea, has turned around and is not heading to the Dutch Gate Terminal.
The tanker Flex Vigilant has turned away from China and is now heading to Europe, awaiting orders.
Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine – the main transit route for Russian gas to the EU – remained stable on Monday, according to Gazprom.
Ukraine has said it will not extend the gas transit deal with Russia when the five-year agreement expires at the end of the year.
