June 23 (Reuters) - Prices for spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracted in May for delivery to Japan averaged $14.80 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) on a delivered ex-ship basis, down from $16.00 a month earlier, the trade ministry said.
Spot LNG pricesfor new front-month August delivery fell to around $12.05 per mmBtu as a summer glut of LNG supplies has spurred one of the sharpest downturns on record, prompting spot prices to drop some 40 percent from a late-winter February peak above $20 per mmBtu.
Japan in April started releasing spot LNG prices for the first time to add transparency to an opaque market and amid concern about rising fuel costs in the wake of the shutdown of nuclear plants after the Fukushima crisis.
Japan has been importing record volumes of LNG to run power stations following the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo after the March 2011 earthquake and the ensuing shutdown of all 48 reactors in the country.
Japan takes about a third of world LNG shipments, importing a record 87.73 million tonnes in the year to the end of March. The average spot price is based on about 10 percent of the super-chilled fuel bought by Japan.
Japan's LNG price survey looks at samples of fixed prices for LNG sold to power companies and utilities among others, and excludes spot deals linked to benchmark prices such as the U.S. natural gas Henry Hub index.
Spot LNG prices
Japan in April started releasing spot LNG prices for the first time to add transparency to an opaque market and amid concern about rising fuel costs in the wake of the shutdown of nuclear plants after the Fukushima crisis.
Japan has been importing record volumes of LNG to run power stations following the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo after the March 2011 earthquake and the ensuing shutdown of all 48 reactors in the country.
Japan takes about a third of world LNG shipments, importing a record 87.73 million tonnes in the year to the end of March. The average spot price is based on about 10 percent of the super-chilled fuel bought by Japan.
Japan's LNG price survey looks at samples of fixed prices for LNG sold to power companies and utilities among others, and excludes spot deals linked to benchmark prices such as the U.S. natural gas Henry Hub index.
