--DES Northeast Asia

Hokkaido Gas issued a buy tender closing Nov 19 for two cargoes a year staring 2025 over a period of five to 10 years. Hokkaido Gas was expected to take the cargoes at the 4.60 mil mt/year Ishikari terminal that it jointly operates with Hokkaido Electric Power. Currently, Hokkaido Gas was purchasing 300,000-400,000mt a year from Tokyo Gas under a long-term contract. A trader said that Hokkaido Gas would reduce the term quantity with Tokyo Gas from 2025 and issued the current tender to make up for the shortfall.

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

ADNOC LNG in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sold six cargoes loading at the 5.60 mil mt/year Das Island project during April to September through a sell tender closed on Tuesday. The winner was not revealed at the moment, but prices were said to be around 16% of Brent crude prices. Although LNG produced at the Das Island project contains relatively high sulfur and receivers are limited, several portfolio players including European traders and end-users considered indicating bids into the tender. Therefore, the tender attracted the interest of other players besides end-users.

--FOB Atlantic, DES Europe and South America

Production at the 15.00 mil mt/year US Freeport project was reduced from end-October due to maintenance at pipelines and was expected to recover to normal levels on Nov 20. The 173,400cbm MEGI tanker "British Sponsor" and the 160,000cbm DFDE tanker "Golar Penguin" loaded at the project in early November but were still waiting near the project. A shipping company said that supply to these vessels was less than a cargo as production at the Freeport project was decreasing in early November, and supply to the vessels would be restarted when production recovered after Nov 20.