GLOBAL LNG-Prices firm on demand from South Korea, Taiwan

By Oleg Vukmanovic and Mark Tay

LONDON/SINGAPORE, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Asian spot LNG prices rose this week as South Korean importers and Taiwan (Taiwan OTC: 6549.TWO - news) showed appetite amid a flurry of cargo offerings from projects across Asia and the Atlantic (Shanghai: 600558.SS - news) .

Spot prices (LNG-AS) for September delivery rose to $5.90 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), 15 cents above last week.

Korea Gas Corp (KSE: 036460.KS - news) , one of the world's biggest LNG importers, is expected to seek several cargoes via tender, alongside smaller peer SK E&S, according to market sources.

Taiwan's state-run CPC is also seeking added supply to cover its summer demand, they said.

On the supply side, Russia's Sakhalin II project is expected to offer several October-loading cargoes, traders said, likely to weigh on spot prices during the month as more supply emerges, including from new projects gearing up operations.

Chevron (Euronext: CHTEX.NX - news) 's new Wheatstone LNG project is due to export first LNG in September, according to trade sources, while the fourth production line at Cheniere Energy (Frankfurt: 580884 - news) 's Sabine Pass plant appears to have begun liquefying gas, based on higher feed-stock flows.

Meanwhile, Angola's export plant launched a tender to sell a prompt cargo loading over Aug. 7 to 9. That tender closes on Aug. 8 and will be valid until Aug. 10.

Exxon Mobil (Swiss: XOM-USD.SW - news) is offering a cargo from its Papua New Guinea project for loading over Sept. 16-20 via tender, which will close on Aug. 2 and is valid until Aug. 4.

New (KOSDAQ: 160550.KQ - news) sources of demand are also looming. Bangladesh's state minister for energy and power, Nasrul Hamid, said he expects the country to import around 17.5 million tonnes of the fuel per year by 2025.

The country expects to begin bringing in LNG cargoes via two floating import terminals by July next year, Hamid said.

Hamid said Bangladesh was in talks with Qatar's RasGas and Indonesia's Pertamina for long-term supply deals, while it also planned to import significant amounts of its future demand via the freely traded spot market.

(Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic and Mark Tay; Editing by Susan Thomas)