The growth in re-exporting LNG from receiving terminals

The last 18 months have seen a rapid increase in the volume of LNG re-exported from receiving terminals to meet the demand for short-term LNG cargoes in both established and newly emerging markets. In visual_editor011, 47 cargoes amounting to visual_editor.visual_editor7mt were re-exported and already in the first five months of visual_editor01visual_editor 3visual_editor cargoes totalling 1.48mt have followed. Ten terminals in six countries – Spain, Belgium, the USA, Mexico, Brazil and France – have reloaded and at least three more in Europe are in the process of making the necessary arrangements. However, re-exporting is an inefficient way of delivering LNG to the market in which it is finally regasified and consumed. This is especially the case in the tight LNG shipping market that has developed over the last two years since the LNG cargoes are transported over much longer distances than the direct route to the market and the ships have to spend additional time in port reloading the LNG. LNGBR looks at how the re-export market has developed in recent years and discusses why it is being used despite the additional costs that are incurred.