LNG producers waking up to flexibility

In a buyer’s market, exporters will need to scrap destination clauses and make other concessions to importers

New liquefied natural gas buyers are springing up to challenge the status quo when it comes to supply terms and contract lengths, as lower prices, technological advances and the emergence of aggregators put pressure on established gas producers to adapt their business models. Asia, still LNG’s premier market, has lagged Europe by 10-15 years in terms of new ways of trading. But will change, particularly as destination clauses – which stipulate where the LNG cargoes can be accepted – come under pressure. “In Europe, you now have a means of trading whereby if you don’t want the cargo you just send it somewhere else or reload and send it somewhere else,” says Jonathan Stern, head of the natural