LNG spot trading continues to surge

LNG spot trading is setting new records and in its ‘true’ form has more than doubled since 2016, according to the latest data from GIIGNL

The global LNG business broke several records last year. One of the most significant was another surge in what importers’ group GIIGNL calls ‘true’ spot trading, where delivery occurs in 90 days or fewer after the transaction, which was up 21pc year-on-year and 102pc on 2016. The surge highlights the increasing commoditisation and sophistication of the industry, driven largely by the growing role of portfolio players such as Shell and Total, as well as commodity traders such as Vitol and Gunvor. Amid the doom and gloom of the Covid-19 pandemic and plummeting oil and gas prices, the latest state-of-the-business report from GIIGNL is rare cause for celebration, quantifying as it does the indus