Spark’s data lead, Qasim Afghan, told LNG Prime on Friday that Spark30S (Atlantic) rates increased by $1,750 this week, pricing in at $35,500 per day.
“Meanwhile, Spark25S (Pacific) rates dropped for a fifth week running, decreasing by $3,750 per day to $33,500 per day and meaning that Atlantic rates are once again pricing in at a premium to Pacific rates for the first time in over three weeks,” he said.
European prices up
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG rose compared to last week.
“The SparkNWE DES LNG front month price for September is assessed at $11.374/MMBtu, whilst the basis to the TTF priced in at $0.460/MMBtu,” Afghan said.
Moreover, “the US front-month arb to NE-Asia (via the Cape of Good Hope) widened by $0.048 this week, pricing in at -$0.176/MMBtu and continuing to incentivise US cargoes to deliver to Europe,” he said.
“The US front-month arb to NE-Asia via Panama, which had been pointing to Asia for almost two weeks, is now closed again, assessed at -$0.030/MMBtu and pointing to Europe,” Afghan said.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU continued to rise and were 68.34 percent full on July 30.
Gas storages were 65.99 percent full on July 23, and 84.90 percent full on July 30, 2024.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in September 2025 settled at $12.040/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for September settled at 11.875/MMBtu on Friday, July 25.
Front-month JKM rose to 11.925/MMBtu on Monday, 12/MMBtu on Tuesday, and $12.040 on Wednesday.
State-run Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (Jogmec) said in a report earlier this week that JKM for last week “fell to mid-$11s/MMBtu on July 25 from low-$12s/MMBtu the previous weekend.”
“JKM fell to $11 range on July 24 for the first time since mid-May due to weak demand amid ample supply, but buyers were still on the sidelines and remained cautious at this price level,” it said.
