* Spot LNG prices in Asia hold steady at $5.40/mmBtu
* Japan buyers not worried by warmer-than-usual summer forecast
* KOGAS starts U.S. LNG contract, expected to pare spot demand
By Mark Tay
SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - Asian spot LNG prices held steady this week amid muted demand from key North Asian buyers who shrugged off forecasts of a warmer-than-usual summer.
Spot prices for August delivery LNG-AS were steady at $5.40 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) unchanged from last week, said four traders on Friday.
The traders said the market was largely steady due to thin trade for August cargoes, and as summer demand from Asia had yet to fully emerge.
"I don't see (spot) prices changing that much ... There will be no big demand for spot cargoes for Japan unless trouble happens in existing projects," said an official at a Japanese gas company, referring to supplies from Qatar, so far unaffected amid the ongoing geopolitical crisis in the Middle East. thin spot demand, LNG prices were supported by extreme heat in some areas of the Northern Hemisphere during the summer solstice this week, a precursor to warmer-than-usual temperatures expected in some North Asian countries. will witness warmer weather between July and September, the official forecaster said on Friday. Japanese LNG buyers shrugged off any immediate impact on prices. "I don't see impact of the temperature at this moment," the Japanese gas company official said.
MEXICO, ANGOLA TENDERS
Mexico's state-run utility CFE awarded its tender seeking nine LNG cargoes for delivery between June and August, trade sources said. Shell (LON:RDSa) won six of the nine delivery slots at levels around the $5.00-$5.50/mmBtu range, according to sources based in Asia and Europe. LNG market is also awaiting the results from two Angolan LNG sell tenders to better gauge market sentiment and spot levels. Angola LNG had offered prompt June-loading and early-August loading cargoes in separate tenders that have validity till June 23. Gas Corp (KOGAS) will early next month receive its first LNG cargo under a long-term supply deal with U.S. exporter Cheniere Energy, two sources at the South Korean company said on Friday. 20-year supply deal, under which KOGAS will receive 2.8 million tonnes of the supercooled fuel a year from Cheniere, could weigh on spot LNG demand in Asia as it means KOGAS will likely have less appetite for spot supplies, said a Singapore-based LNG trader.
The SM Eagle, the vessel carrying the first Cheniere cargo, loaded on June 2 and is currently en route in the Pacific Ocean after sailing through the Panama Canal, according to shipping data in Thomson Reuters Eikon.
Italian energy firm Eni shipped its first LNG cargo from Indonesia's Jangkrik field this week. The 22,500 cubic metre cargo left the Bontang liquefaction plant on June 22 and is headed for Bali. at the Jangkrik field began last month, ahead of initial plans for a September start up. Gas from the project will be supplied to the Bontang liquefaction plant where production is in decline.