SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts adds Panama Canal option to LNG freight route costs

S&P Global Platts has added a Panama Canal navigation option to freight route costs on two routes from the US Gulf Coast: to Japan/Korea and to South China/Taiwan.

These will be published in Platts LNG Daily and on the Natural Gas Alert page 1025 from August 1, 2016.

The standard shipping assumptions will apply to these freight costs. They are as follows: average speed 17 knots; vessel size 155,000-180,000 cu m; fillable volume of 98.5%; fuel oil consumption 100 mt/day of IFO 380 CST; and a boil-off gas factor of 0.12% when laden and 0.09% when on ballast. Heel will be calculated as 0.09% natural boil-off while on ballast, multiplied by the number of days of the return leg plus 36 hours.

Platts currently estimates the cost of transiting via the Panama Canal at $0.18/MMBtu. The voyage from Sabine Pass to Futtsu will be 23 days and to Guangdong Dapeng will be 28 days.

Basis gas price for boil-off and heel will be calculated using the delivered price of LNG. For these two voyages it would be the JKM. Cost of charter will be for the entire voyage, accounting for a round-trip and a three-day loading/delivery time, and dividing that cost by the total delivered cargo in MMBtu. The bunker fuel basis for these routes will be Houston.

These new freight route costs will be included in the netback used to assess the Gulf Coast Marker (GCM) symbol LGCSM01, where netback calculations using the most economic route may be used as the basis for the assessment.

Please send all questions and feedback to wyatt.wong@spglobal.com and lng@platts.com and copy pricemethodology@platts.com. For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.