Big Asian Term LNG Cuts

摘要

Faced with rapidly shrinking demand, Northeast Asian buyers have started slashing term imports. So far, this is mainly limited to amounts permitted under the "downward quantity tolerance" (DQT) — usually 10% — by which buyers have the legitimate right to trim liftings under long-term contracts (WGI Feb.4,p1). But in some cases, buyers want to reduce supply by more and are requesting that these volumes be delayed rather than triggering take-or-pay charges. If successful, this would pose further production and marketing complications for sellers that have already concluded "annual delivered quantity" talks. Indonesia, in particular, may now find that it's payback time.