By Dinakar Sethuraman

SINGAPORE (Bloomberg):  BP Plc's Atlantic LNG in Trinidad & Tobago has increased shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe and Asia to fetch higher prices. Shipments to the US fell.

The venture, partly owned by BG Plc, Repsol YPF SA and National Gas Co. of Trinidad, sold 37 percent of its production in Europe and Asia last year, up from 12 percent in 2005, according to a statement on the venture's website and data from the International Group of LNG Importers.

Trinidad chilled 748 billion cubic feet of natural gas into 307 LNG cargoes last year, Chief Executive Officer Oscar Prieto said in a statement dated February 23 on the website.

Soaring demand for gas last year in Europe and East Asia led utilities to pay higher than US benchmark prices for shipments from Trinidad.

US gas prices averaged $6.98 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange last year, a Deutsche Bank report dated February 23 said. Japanese utilities paid as much as $20 for supplies from Trinidad and other Atlantic Basin LNG producers last year, Alexis Aik, a consultant at FACTS Global Energy in Singapore said on February 20.

Atlantic LNG earned, after deducting transportation and insurance costs, $9.17 per million British thermal units on cargoes shipped to Spain and $5.32 on sales to the UK compared with $3.71 for shipments to the Lake Charles terminal in Louisiana, a US Energy department report in January said.

Imports of LNG into the US have decreased over the past two years to about 12.1 million metric tons last year, equivalent to 580 billion cubic feet, the Energy Information Administration said on its website.

Atlantic LNG's shipments accounted for 30 percent of Trinidad & Tobago's exports last year. Each LNG cargo is typically 50,000-60,000 metric tons.

The company was formed in July 1995 to develop an LNG plant in Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago. The four production lines, known as trains, have 15 million tons a year of capacity.

One train, capable of producing 5.2 million tons a year, is the world's biggest and started producing last year. The first cargo was shipped in April 1999, the company said on its website.