US LNG: Cooperative rather than swing producer

The US has a vital role in promoting flexible and transparent LNG markets

It is easy to forget that the global LNG market was on the floor even before the unprecedented events of 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic spread around the world. Months of over-supply from a surge in new capacity and softening demand, in part due to the impact of tariff wars, had sent prices plummeting. During previous price troughs, LNG market participants—producers, buyers and traders—would look towards diverting volumes to other markets, fuel switching in the power sector, and increased demand in price-sensitive sectors such as fertilisers to rebalance the supply-demand dynamic. But a new and much more efficient tool has now been introduced into the toolbox—the ability to contractually limi