Spot liquefied natural gas prices in Asia have risen sharply as power producers have started stockpiling for the winter much sooner than usual this year. The price for LNG for delivery to Asia in the second half of December is around $17.90 per million metric British thermal unit compared with less than $14 per mmBtu at this time last year, Singapore-based traders say. Liquefied natural gas storage tanks and a tanker at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Futtsu thermal power station east of Tokyo. Reuters If trading of forward swaps for the clean-burning fuel provides an accurate indication of the trend over the next month or so, LNG is set to surpass the price of crude oil. Swaps, derivatives that ascribe a notional value to traded items, put LNG at $18.30 per mmBtu in January, which is equivalent to ICE Brent crude around $105 a barrel. Brent […]