TOKYO, July 16. /TASS/. Strong heat in this summer leads to a notable increase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices in Asian countries, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper informs.
The LNG price climbed to $12.6 per 1 mln British Thermal Units (BTU) in the spot market in mid-June. This is approximately 1,5 times higher than in early March and is record high since December 2023, the newspaper said.
The price in Asian markets was fluctuating in early July at approximately the same level, slightly less than $12.5 per 1 mln BTU. LNG prices were also at their highest since last December in the EU countries, Nikkei noted.
"Strong heat is the key factor of their growth," the newspaper said. "The temperature rose to the highest level since 1961 this spring in China, the world’s largest LNG buyer. The temperature in Japan, which ranks world’s second by LNG procurements, will also be noticeably above the average level, Nikkei cautioned.
This leads to the surging demand for LNG since heat requires huge electricity volumes for air conditioning of spaces and for cooling units.