The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Asian LNG buyers renegotiate long-term supply contracts:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/big-oils-next-big-energy-problem-1458748111

Just a couple of years ago…LNG demand was growing like gangbusters, particularly in markets such as China and India. And the Fukushima disaster in 2011 caused a very tight market for spot cargoes—those excess cargoes that can go anywhere to the highest bidder. These touched $20 per million British thermal units at one point and still were at $14 two years ago.

But so much capacity has come on stream at a time of slowing demand from China that the benchmark Japan/Korea Marker price has crashed to around $4.40.