This story requires a subscription
This includes a single user license.
Spark’s data lead, Qasim Afghan, told LNG Prime on Friday that Spark30S (Atlantic) rates rose a further $11,000 this week to $33,500 per day.
On the other hand, Spark25S (Pacific) rates continue to decrease for an 11th consecutive week, dropping $750 to $27,500 per day and marking the first time in over a month that Atlantic rates are pricing at a premium to Pacific rates, he said.
“In the Atlantic basin, spot rates have climbed back above $30,000/day, now marginally outperforming Pacific and Middle East levels,” Fearnley LNG said in its weekly LNG report.
The Oslo-based advisory and brokering firm said that “cold weather, storms, and adverse sea conditions continue to disrupt cargo operations and tighten vessel schedules.”
“The resulting cargo and vessel mismatches have added pressure to the usual steady stream of requirements,” it said.
“Tightness is currently centered in mid-March, with potential to extend toward month-end should disruptions persist,” Fearnley LNG said.
“In the Pacific, activity is quieter through the holiday period, as seasonally expected. Recent fixing levels are struggling to hold amid a relatively healthy availability list,” it said.
“Multi-month activity is muted for now, although recent interest in candidate vessels suggests this may prove to be a temporary pause rather than a broader slowdown,” Fearnley LNG said.
European prices remain steady
In Europe, the SparkNWE DES LNG was almost flat compared to last week.
“The SparkNWE DES LNG front-month price for March remains fairly steady week-on-week at $10.371/MMBtu, despite sinking to $9.203/MMBtu on Tuesday,” Afghan said.
He said that the basis to the TTF “is assessed at -$1.185/MMBtu and continues to indicate significantly increased demand for delivery slots into NW-Europe.”
“The US front-month arb (via COGH) for March loading has narrowed further to -$0.245/MMBtu, but still continuing to point US prompt cargoes to Europe,” he said.
“Similarly, the Nigerian front-month arb (via COGH) has increased to $0.167/MMBtu and is now pointing to Asia for the first time since early January,” Afghan said.
Data by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) shows that volumes in gas storages in the EU dipped from last week and were 31.97 percent full on February 18, 2026.
Gas storages were 35.21 percent full on February 11, 2026, and 42.59 percent full on February 18, 2025.
JKM
In Asia, JKM, the price for LNG cargoes delivered to Northeast Asia in March 2026 settled at $10.780/MMBtu on Thursday.
Last week, JKM for February settled at 10.993/MMBtu on Friday, February 13.
Front-month JKM dropped to 9.960/MMBtu on Tuesday, and it rose to 11.395/MMBtu on Wednesday.
Japan’s JOGMEC said in a report earlier this week that the Northeast Asian assessed spot LNG price JKM for last week “remained almost unchanged at high-$10s/MMBtu on February 13 from high-$10s/MMBtu the previous weekend.”
“JKM declined slightly in the first half of the week due to a lack of significant changes in market fundamentals and adjustments in the Chinese market ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. It then rose on the back of recovering buying interest from Northeast Asian buyers for post-winter inventory replenishment, returning to high-$10s/MMBtu by the end of the week,” JOGMEC said.