--DES Northeast Asia

　Osaka Gas closed a sell tender on 23 June for one cargo for early September delivery. Several other end-users such as Kansai Electric Power and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) were also interested to resell long-term cargoes. With spot prices surging, prices of many long-term cargoes linked to the crude market such as Brent crude and JCC (Japan Crude Cocktail) were lower than the spot market by $2 or more despite a rise in crude prices. In addition to end-users with comfortable stocks, some end-users were exercising upward quantity tolerance (UQT) and advancing the delivery of term cargoes and were moving to resell these cargoes. A European trader reckoned that spot prices would remain higher than term prices for the time being.

--FOB Middle East, DES South Asia, South east Asia and the Middle East

　Pakistan State Oil (PSO) would be closing a tender for Aug 29-30 delivery on July 26. In Pakistan, temperatures were currently at around 40 degrees Celsius. Temperatures would be lower in July when the rainy season arrived but gas demand for use in air-conditioning was expected due to high humidity.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

　Stocks in Europe were low. Maintenance was being conducted at gas fields in Norway and pipeline gas supply from the North Sea decreased. The Nordstream pipeline which runs below the Baltic Sea and sends gas from Russia to Germany would undergo maintenance in July. As a result, if supply of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine did not increase, natural gas supply from Russia might fall from July and supply/demand in Europe might tighten.