LNG: a fungible tangible

A shift away from big-budget projects to smaller-scale plants will fundamentally change the market

IT RIVALS iron ore as the world's second-biggest traded commodity - after oil - yet the liquefied natural gas trade remains opaque and illiquid. This is about to change, irking the supermajors that have monopolised the long-term point-to-point business for decades. LNG is coming of age as a commodity. Producers, who feared any change in the business model would lead to a drop in prices, have always resisted this. They insisted long-term oil-linked contracts were still needed to offset their huge investments in LNG. Only a year or so ago, Shell, ExxonMobil, Total, Chevron and BP, along with their national oil company (NOC) partners, controlled more than 95% of all LNG supply. A study by the I