Rising ship supply helps ease LNG charter rates

* Limited availability drove LNG shipping rates to highs

* Prices falling as more ship supply becomes available

By Ekaterina Kravtsova

LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Inflated spot charter rates forliquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers are easing as more shipsbecoming available, which could help increase LNG trade if Asiandemand rises in coming months.

LNG charter rates are a key component of spot LNG trade,dictating the way the super-cooled gas is transported. Charterrates usually follow the price of LNG, which has fallen sinceSeptember due to sluggish demand from Asian buyers.

Rates have remained high for most of this year, hittingaround $195,000 last month.

Not many spot Atlantic cargoes have travelled east in recentmonths due to inflated shipping rates, with some companieshaving to arrange cargo swaps to reduce costs.

But as more vessels become available for spot charters,rates have dropped to around $160,000 per day at the end ofNovember, shipbrokers told Reuters. One source said the spotrate for a modern vessel reached $140,000 per day on Tuesday.

Four ships became open on Monday for December charter, oneindustry source said, while another predicted that overall up to10 will become available for charter this month, with morecoming to the market after floating cargoes are unloaded.

Additionally, Chinese energy major CNOOC Ltd.offered late last month to charter out the British Emerald LNGtanker after it hired the ship from oil and gas company BPearlier this year, two shipbrokers in Singapore said.

Commodities trading firm Trafigura was offering the GaslogSantiago tanker for up to three months from early December, theindustry sources said.

However, rates are still higher than last year's level,between the months of December and March, when they were mostlybelow $100,000 per day.

"Shipping [rates are] very high, there is not muchroom for work at the moment," an LNG trader said, referring tohow this had limited movements from the Atlantic to the Pacificbasin.

Demand for early next year is still mostly from theAsia-Pacific basin, such as U.S.-based ExxonMobil,Global mining and resources company BHP and theAustralia Pacific LNG project which are looking for ships toload from Australia-based export plants in the first half ofJanuary.

But some shipbrokers said charter rates will likely continueto fall, as supply could outweigh demand.(Reporting by Ekaterina Kravtsova; editing by Nina Chestney andAlexander Smith)