LNG contract volumes see sharp rise

Covid disruptions prove no barrier to major year-on-year jump in H1 2020

LNG contracting during the past six months has defied many expectations to soar compared with the same period in 2019. At least 24 contracts covering nearly 24mn t/yr have been signed, compared with just 14 contracts for 13.1mn t/yr during the first half of 2019. Even more surprising, most of the contracts involved sellers who were not sponsoring new projects. Buyers signed 16 contracts for 12.23mn t/yr with aggregators, traders and producers with legacy plants where long-term contracts have expired. The average length of these contracts was for six years and the average volume was just over 750,000t/yr. In addition, eight contracts for 11.75mn t/yr were inked by new project sellers in Mexic