需求缓慢复苏 全球天然气库存激增

    中国石化新闻网讯 据天然气加工网站6月16日消息 随着液化天然气需求缓慢复苏，全球天然气库存不断膨胀。另外随着经济复苏，对第二波疫情爆发的担忧加剧了市场的谨慎情绪。

    贸易和航运消息人士称，日本、韩国和欧洲等国的天然气储罐已满，几十艘液化天然气油轮正在闲置。

    数据情报公司Kpler分析师丽贝卡?贾表示，已将27艘满载液化天然气的油轮标记为“漂浮”，其中8艘表明目的地为日本。Kpler认为，如果一艘船在水上航行超过五天，则标记为“漂浮”。

    由于疫情迫使酒店和餐厅关闭，以及工厂暂停运营，日本液化天然气最大进口国的天然气需求一直疲弱。5月份，商业部门的天然气销售较上年同期下降了50%，而工业部门的天然气销售则下滑了20-30%。

    日本4月初宣布的紧急状态一直持续到5月下旬，5月份的月度液化天然气进口量创下10年来的最低水平。

    消息人士向路透社表示，韩国最大的液化天然气进口国韩国天然气公司已将数批货物推迟至今年下半年，原因是该公司正在应对高库存。

    暖冬过后，欧洲天然气库存也一直处于创纪录水平。

    船舶经纪人辛普森?斯宾塞?杨分析师表示：“预计在注入季节结束前，欧洲西北部的存储容量将达到最大容量，预计8月份还需要一段时间。”

    吴恒磊 编译自 天然气加工

    原文如下：

Global gas inventory swells as demand recovers slowly

Global gas inventory has swollen as demand for liquefied natural gas is slow to recover and fears of a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak are adding to caution as economies restart.

Dozens of LNG tankers are idling as gas storage tanks become full in countries such as Japan, South Korea and in Europe, trade and shipping sources said.

There are 27 laden LNG tankers flagged by data intelligence firm Kpler as floating, with eight of them signalling Japan as their destination, said Rebecca Chia, analyst at the company. Kpler considers a vessel as floating if it has been on the water for more than five days.

Gas demand in top LNG importer Japan has been weak as COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, forced hotels and restaurants to shut and as factories suspend operations. Gas sales in the commercial segment fell by up to 50% in May from a year earlier, while gas sales for the industrial segment slid by 20% to 30%.

Japan’s monthly LNG import volumes in May hit the lowest in a decade after the country’s state of emergency declared in early April remained in force until late May.

South Korea’s top LNG importer Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) has deferred several cargoes to the later part of the year as it grapples with high inventory, sources told Reuters.

European gas inventories have also been at record levels after a warm winter.

“Storage capacity in Northwest Europe is expected to hit maximum capacity before the end of the injection season, which is estimated to be some time in August,” analysts from shipbroker Simpson Spence Young said.