Common Questions

What is the Atlantic Basin in the context of LNG shipping?

The Atlantic Basin is the commercial LNG trading zone linking US Gulf Coast, Caribbean, and West African liquefaction terminals with European import terminals, as distinct from the Pacific Basin which serves Asia.Source: IEA / ICIS

Why is Atlantic Basin LNG important to Europe since the Hormuz closure?

With Hormuz-routed Qatari and UAE LNG blocked since the Iran conflict, The Atlantic Basin is Europe's only alternative short-haul supply corridor; the IEA quantified the Hormuz loss at over 2 bcm per week.Source: IEA April 2026 Oil Market Report

Does European TTF price always attract Atlantic Basin LNG over Asian markets?

No. Atlantic Basin LNG flows to the highest-netback market; when JKM (Asia) is at a sufficient premium over TTF (Europe), cargoes flow east rather than west. European buyers must outbid Asia to guarantee Atlantic flows.Source: european-energy-markets briefing

Background

With Hormuz disrupted since 28 February 2026 and Qatari LNG exports suspended, The Atlantic Basin became Europe's sole short-haul LNG supply corridor during the 2026 injection season. Golden Pass LNG added a new Atlantic source from April 2026, routing some Qatari-origin volumes via Texas. However, the JKM-TTF arbitrage has kept Atlantic cargoes routing east rather than west for much of the season: with the JKM-TTF spread above the freight-adjusted diversion threshold of approximately USD 2.50-3.00/MMBtu, cargo owners earn a higher netback selling into Asia. As of 18 June 2026, the spread stood at approximately USD 4.35/MMBtu, compressing from USD 5.26 on 12 June on diplomacy news but remaining above the diversion level. The first LNG carrier to transit Hormuz after the June memorandum, the Disha, docked at Dahej in India rather than a European terminal, illustrating the queue and arbitrage dynamics. OIES quantified the resulting European net LNG shortfall at 2.1 bcm per month through October, contributing to the central case of EU storage reaching only 70% by 1 November.

The Atlantic Basin is the geographic LNG trading zone connecting liquefaction terminals on the US Gulf Coast (Sabine Pass, Corpus Christi, Freeport, Cove Point, Golden Pass), Trinidad and Tobago (Atlantic LNG), West Africa (Nigeria LNG, Equatorial Guinea LNG, Angola LNG), and Norway (Hammerfest Snohvit) with regasification terminals in Northwest Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, and West Africa. Atlantic Basin LNG cargoes have shorter transit times to European terminals (typically 7-10 days from the US Gulf) than Pacific Basin cargoes, which originate from Australia, Qatar, and Southeast Asia. Before the 2026 conflict, US exports supplied approximately 58% of EU LNG imports.