NOCs find allure in LNG trading
Traditionally conservative players are embracing more flexible approaches
Optimisation is the new name of the game for many NOC LNG exporters, from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. They have finally embraced trading in order to keep up with a rapidly changing landscape almost unrecognisable from the market they first entered. NOCs have been selling LNG since the 1970s, but only in the last decade or so have they made headway in terms of trading. Building a liquefaction plant was about monetising natural resources; optimisation is about value creation from every molecule of LNG produced. Gone are the days of single point-to-point LNG contracts, while US liquefaction played a key role in ushering in a new level of commercial flexibility. NOC producers must now re-
Also in this section
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference
7 May 2025
From China blocking US LNG to Trump demanding that various countries import more of the fuel, the politicisation of LNG is on the rise
