Trading Giants Take LNG Plunge Ahead of US Export Start

摘要

After spending a few years testing the waters, trading houses are now plunging into LNG spot trade in a bigger way. As the industry continues to expand and liquidity to increase, the new entrants aim to wrest business away from the coterie of producing countries and major oil companies that have controlled the market for decades. After setting up an LNG trading desk last year, US-based Koch Supply and Trading became the latest trading house to enter the spot market over the summer, making its mark in a deal to take six cargoes from Enel's capacity at Nigeria LNG (WGI Sep.4'13). It joins a line-up that includes trading giants Glencore Xstrata, Trafigura — which nabbed a headline-grabbing deal earlier this year when it won 19 cargoes in a 29-cargo tender to supply Mexican state Pemex — Gunvor and Vitol (WGI Jun.19'13). A number of smaller players have also dipped their toes in the spot market over the past year, including Swiss duo Axpo and Dufenergy, Singapore's Temasek Holdings, which set up its own LNG team in April, and Hong Kong-based Noble Group.