*Qatargas has shut two of its largest liquefaction trains for planned maintenance. Units four and five, each with 7.8 million tonnes per annum of capacity, have been offline since mid-September, a source told Bloomberg. The shutdowns will last for over one month.*Kansai Electric Power Company has signed up to buy an additional 500,000 tonnes per annum of LNG from Qatargas. The Japanese utility said the contract will run for 15 years from January 2013 with supplies to come from Qatargas 3. Kansai already has a 23-year contract with Qatar for 290,000 tpa, which runs into 2021.*Asian spot prices have shown little change this week as some Japanese utilities began bargain hunting. Rim Intelligence’s Northeast Asia spot price assessment fell to $12.90 per million British thermal units for first-half November deliveries, down from $12.95 last week.*Hoegh LNG has raked in Nkr750 million ($130 million) in an unsecured bond sale. The floating regas specialist said the issue was oversubscribed. It plans to use the funds for general working purposes.*Enarsa will launch a tender next month for the purchase of 37 to 40 LNG cargoes for 2013, according to reports. The state run Argentine utility said it will buy the shipments on the spot market. Extra imports for this year were expected to total 80 cargoes but mild winter weather and increased pipeline volumes from Bolivia cut demand for LNG, lowering its requirements by 30% this August.*Yemeni Prime Minister Salim Basindwa and Energy Minister Ahmed Daris have met with a delegation from Total to discuss the possibility of increasing export prices under three long-term contracts at the Yemen LNG plant. Total president of exploration and production in the Middle East Arnaud Breuillac has reportedly pledged to work on getting higher prices for the nation’s resources.
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Qatargas shuts two trains for maintenance; Asia spot prices show little change and Enarsa to launch cargo tender.
28 September 2012 14:40 GMT
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28 September 2012 14:40 GMT
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