By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 29 -- LNG shipments to Europe will increase by more than 40% in July and August, according to the latest edition of European LNG Report from market analysis firm Waterborne, Houston. This development, says Waterborne, will continue to depress natural gas prices on the continent.
“We are adjusting our forecast numbers upward for European LNG imports in July and August based on strong import growth expected in the UK and Belgium,” says Steve Johnson, Waterborne president.
Under shipment scenarios devised by Waterborne, total European LNG imports for July will exceed 4.5 million tonnes, setting a record for 1-month imports and representing a 40% increase over July 2008. For August, total European imports will reach nearly 4.2 million tonnes, a 45% jump over the same month last year.
Shipments to Spain will lead European importing countries in both months, reaching more than 1.8 million tonnes in July and more than 1.6 million tonnes in August, according to Waterborne. France will import 804,000 tonnes in July and 844,000 tonnes in August.
The UK will receive 732,000 tonnes of LNG in July followed in Augsut by 552,000 tonnes. Dragon LNG’s terminal at Milford Haven, Wales, received its first commissioning cargo on July 14, weeks earlier than expected. “We are also projecting increased LNG shipments from Qatar into Milford Haven’s South Hook terminal, which opened in May,” says Johnson.
The July edition of the European Waterborne LNG Report looks at the effect of the Medgaz pipeline on Europe’s LNG markets, if planned, new pipeline connections are built across the Pyrenees.