PetroChina buys one out of three LNG cargoes traded on Platts' pricing process

By Jessica Jaganathan

SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - PetroChina on Wednesday bought a spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo for delivery in April from commodity trader Vitol through the S&P Global Platts' pricing process also known as market-on-close (MOC).

The cargo, which traded at $3.05 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), is for delivery over April 20 to 22 into the Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China region and is to be loaded from Das Island, Abu Dhabi, Platts said.

Both the buyer and seller may opt for alternate discharge or loading ports respectively, provided they give 30 days notice before initial delivery, the pricing agency added.

PetroChina does not only buy cargoes for domestic use in China but also for trading purpose but signs are emerging of improving demand from the world's second largest buyer of the super-chilled fuel.

LNG shipments to China last week, for instance, rose for the first time in five weeks amid more economic activity which was hit by the coronavirus outbreak, sources said.

Separately, Platts added that two other deals exchanged hands during its pricing process on Wednesday.

Glencore bought an LNG cargo from Vitol for delivery over April 6 to 8 while BP bought a cargo from Vitol for delivery over April 14 to 16, the agency said. Both cargoes traded at $2.95 per mmBtu.

LNG trading is typically very opaque with buyers and sellers usually not commenting on their own deals so the trades on Platts pricing process offers more transparency, traders said. (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan Editing by Robert Birsel)