Philippines First Gen awards LNG tender to CNOOC trading unit

The Philippines' First Gen Corporation, or FGEN, said April 15 that it has awarded its LNG buy tender to CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing.

The tender, which was issued on March 21 and closed April 12, was for a single LNG cargo of around 100,000-135,000 cu m on a DES basis, to be delivered to FGEN's LNG terminal in Batangas, Philippines May 25-31. The tender was awarded on an outright price basis, market sources said.

CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing will supply an LNG cargo of approximately 130,000 cu m, according to the statement.

This was FGEN's fifth buy tender, and the second this year. On Feb. 19, FGEN issued a buy tender that sought an LNG cargo with a larger volume, 154,500 cu m, on a DES basis for delivery over March 15-31. The tender that was set to close March 6 was not awarded, with some market sources saying that high offer prices was the reason.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the May JKM at $10.317/MMBtu on April 12, with the May Southeast Asia Marker (SEAM) at a 22.9 cents/MMBtu discount to the May JKM.

More diverse supplier base

FGEN awarded its three tenders in 2023 to Shell Eastern Trading, Trafigura and TotalEnergies Gas & Power Asia.

CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing is the trading arm of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, one of the the country's three national oil companies.

CNOOC Gas and Power Trading & Marketing has been actively selling bilaterally in the market for the past few years, both to Chinese second-tiers and end-users, as well as to outside of China.

The trader became more active in trading LNG late 2023 and started selling into tenders. The tenders included those from Thailand, one of the most active Southeast Asian buyers.