Japan’s import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia has jumped by 49% in August to 0.59 million metric tons and supplies from the U.S. were down by 41% to 0.38 million tons, year-on-year, preliminary customs data showed.
Overall, LNG import by Japan, the world’s second biggest super-cooled gas buyer after China, was up 1% to 5.7 million tons in August, year-on-year, the data showed.
The increase in Russian volumes in August was due to the timing of cargo arrival comparing to last year and was not driven by demand, an industry source told Reuters.
LNG imports from the Middle East, which includes Qatar and Oman, were up 11.4% to 0.78 million tons, the data showed, without providing country breakdown for the region.
“The annual contract volume through long-term contracts is fixed, and if equalized, the same amount of LNG is imported each year. Japan, along with many other countries, does not purchase Russian LNG on a spot basis,” the source said.
Japan’s industry ministry did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for a comment.
In July, LNG supplies from Russia were down by 64% to just 0.09 million tones, year-on-year, according to the earlier released customs data, which, according to the same source, was due to maintenance at the Sakhalin-2 LNG plant.
Overall, LNG import by Japan was up by 10.4% back then backed by increased volumes from Brunei, Malaysia, Oman and Indonesia.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Yuka Obayashi; editing by David Evans)
Russia may hold off oil export cuts in October, sources say
Russia may hold off oil export cuts for its western ports in October or even increase loadings, despite scheduled rise of available primary oil refining capacity at local oil plants which enables Moscow to boost crude runs, market sources said.
“I expect a small rise in Russia’s oil exports in October – by several hundred thousand (metric) tons. I doubt that all the repairs will be completed on time, while the situation with oil plants in Russia’s south is not clear yet,” an industry source said.
Russia’s primary oil refining capacity is expected to rise in the second half of September as refineries wrap up their maintenance, Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources showed on Monday.
Total offline capacity for the whole month is still seen remaining the same as calculated last week, at around 3.9 million tons, jumping 34% in September from August.
Going by a current maintenance schedule, the country’s offline primary oil refining capacity in October would fall by 37% from September to 2.42 million tons. The schedule is subject to change.
Other traders believe oil loadings from Russia’s western ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk in October may fall, as the country winds down seasonal repairs at its oil plants.
Traders said it was hard to estimate Russia’s oil export plans for next month so far, as provisional loading dates for its Baltic and Black Sea ports for the first days of October have yet to emerge, traders added.
Russia’s crude oil loading plan from the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga for September has been revised higher by 0.2 million tons to 6.2 million tons, market sources said last week.
Additional exports will increase planned oil loadings in September from Russian western ports to 2.04 million barrels per day, Reuters calculations show. September loadings will rise by 4.5% from August on a daily basis.
Source: Reuters (Editing by David Evans)