UK’s South Hook to get first non-Qatari LNG tanker

LONDON: Britain’s South Hook liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is scheduled to receive its first tanker of LNG not supplied by Qatar at the end of this month.
Commodities trader Vitol said it would import LNG in the Yari tanker into South Hook on Oct. 31. The tanker is coming from the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in the US.
The South Hook LNG Terminal, located in Milford Haven in west Wales, has received LNG from Qatar since it became operational in 2010, where it is regasified and delivered into the gas grid. It can provide around 20 percent of Britain’s natural gas needs.
Qatar is the leading LNG exporter to Britain but it has also found new demand from countries such as Pakistan, Poland and Turkey.
South Hook has been upgraded so it can receive LNG that is not just from Qatar. The shareholders in the South Hook LNG Terminal Company are Qatar Petroleum, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Total.
South Hook Gas is responsible for managing the terminal’s import capacity.
Elsewhere, Asian spot prices for liquefied natural gas fell to a more than two-month low this week amid increased supply and lower demand especially in Japan, which is expecting a warmer-than-usual winter and the restart of nuclear reactors.
High freight rates are also weighing on Asian demand, with deliveries of LNG heading to northwest Europe instead.
December spot LNG fell to the lowest since Aug. 10.
Illustrating the tepid demand, a fleet of half-a-dozen tankers carrying unsold LNG has been floating in Singapore and Malaysian waters for up to two weeks, traders said this week.
The ships are carrying a total of around 1 million cubic meters of LNG, worth more than $200 million at current spot market prices.
The LNG cargoes were purchased ahead of the northern hemisphere winter season in a strategic move but are now
failing to find buyers, several traders told Reuters.

UK’s South Hook to get first non-Qatari LNG tanker