Bloomberg: Spain LNG Loadings Halt for First Time Since 2012 as Prices Drop

Spain’s liquefied natural gas exports will halt for the first month in two years after the premium of fuel in Asia fell to its lowest level since 2011.

No reloads are planned in February from the southern European nation’s six regasification plants, according to a monthly schedule published by network operator Enagas SA. The premium of LNG cargoes for delivery within two months to northeast Asia over those in southwest Europe dropped to about 5 percent on Dec. 1, the lowest level in almost four years, according to data from World Gas Intelligence.

Spain, which doesn’t produce any LNG, benefited from regional price differences following the Fukushima disaster in Japan in March 2011, re-selling contracted fuel that it didn’t need to markets such as Latin America and Asia. The price gap began to close at the end of last year as milder weather and full inventories damped Asian demand.
MORE