Argentina Assessing 2015 LNG Demand, No Tender Soon -YPF Source

MILAN,  - Argentina's state-controlled YPF is evaluating the scale of national demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports in 2015 and, with ample stocks at hand, does not expect to issue a tender soon, a company official said.

"We are already covered for the next six months at least, and so we are not in a rush to launch any kind of tender for next year," the Buenos Aires-based official who asked not to be named told Reuters on Monday.

Over the past month, LNG traders have been expecting Argentina to tap the market for supplies for 2015 and even 2016 as well as possibly the fourth-quarter of this year, hoping that such a deal would cement a nascent recovery in spot prices for the fuel.

The company source confirmed that abnormally mild weather in Argentina's southern hemisphere winter, with temperatures in Buenos Aires currently around 20 degrees Celsius, has complicated the demand outlook and reduced any urgency to secure additional LNG cargoes.

Argentina's latest debt default in July and its scrabble for reserves in dollars has so far not impeded its ability to buy dollar-denominated LNG, the YPF source and traders said.

In the new system, YPF pays for a quarter of a cargo's value before it is loaded onto a tanker and transfers the rest before the vessel enters its territorial waters, traders said.

(ReutersEdited by Topco)