US coal exports fell to 93 million short tons in 2025, and energy cargoes still mix LCs, open account and prepayment
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Crude oil, fuels, coal and gas move in large single cargoes, so the financing is built cargo by cargo: letters of credit for part or all of the price, open account for the rest, prepayments repaid in barrels, and stock held by a financing partner.
Terms like this have a quick explainer. Tap or hover on them.
01 · The flows
US coal and crude exports fell in 2025, while gas exports rose
US coal exports were 93 million short tons in 2025, down from 108 million in 2024, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). A short ton is the ton used in US statistics. Both kinds of coal fell. , the coal burned for power and heat, fell 18%. , the coal used in steelmaking, fell 11%.
US crude oil exports averaged 3,961 thousand barrels a day in 2025, against 4,093 thousand in 2024, in EIA data released September 30, 2026. Crude oil and refined products together came to 10,785 thousand barrels a day in 2025.
By value, US petroleum exports were $254.3 billion in 2025, the lowest since 2021, the US Census Bureau reports. Gas went the other way. US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) rose 26% to 15.1 billion cubic feet a day in 2025, the EIA says. Our guide How LNG cargoes are financed covers that trade.
Figure 1 · Interactive
US energy exports, 2024 and 2025
Tap a bar to see the volume for that year. Each fuel is measured in its own unit, so each chart has its own scale.
Coal exports, million short tons
Crude oil exports, thousand barrels a day
Sources: US Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy, April 1, 2026 and July 14, 2026; EIA Petroleum and Other Liquids, exports, released September 30, 2026; US Census Bureau, Annual 2025 Press Highlights.
02 · Split payment terms
One cargo can be paid half by letter of credit and half on open account
Energy cargoes are financed one shipment at a time, and one cargo can use two payment methods. A July 2026 English court judgment shows how. Trafigura agreed to sell SONARA, a refiner, 35,000 metric tons of gasoil and 20,000 metric tons of gasoline, each plus or minus 5% at the seller's option, according to the High Court of England and Wales.
The contract required 50% of each cargo to be paid by . A letter of credit is a bank's promise to pay when the seller presents the right documents. The other 50% was on , which means the buyer pays later with no bank promise behind it.
"required 50% of each cargo to be paid by letter of credit"
High Court of England and Wales, Commercial Court, Trafigura v SONARA, July 30, 2026, para 13
Afrexim was the on the letter of credit, the judgment records. A confirming bank adds its own promise to pay. ICC Academy describes confirmation as a definite undertaking of the confirming bank, in addition to the issuing bank's. So half of each cargo had two bank promises behind it.
The court also granted final anti-suit relief, requiring court proceedings brought in Limbe to be withdrawn. An is a court order of this kind: it stops a party from running a case in another court.
A seller can also seek cover for an open account share. One tool is a , a backup that is drawn only if the buyer fails to pay. The US International Trade Administration says a standby is not meant as the way to pay for the goods, but it can be drawn on default, including when an importer does not pay. Our guide to standby letters of credit vs bank guarantees explains the choice.
Figure 2 · Interactive
Three ways an energy cargo gets financed
Pick a structure to follow the cargo from producer to buyer.
Steps are drawn from Trafigura v SONARA [2026] EWHC 1914 (Comm), GeoPark Form 20-F 2025 Note 29, and PBF Holding Form 10-K 2021. Split terms steps 4 to 6 follow standard letter of credit practice and are the Ossiano Research Desk's reading.
03 · Prepayment and offtake
Producers get cash today and repay it with oil delivered later
Some producers are paid before they deliver. This is . It works like : the producer gets cash before the goods ship. The buyer that funds it is the , and the contract is an .
Oil producer GeoPark signed an offtake and prepayment agreement with the trader Vitol in May 2024, according to GeoPark's Form 20-F for 2025. Amounts drawn can be repaid through future oil deliveries. Under a separate prepayment with BP, amounts drawn may be paid down through future crude oil deliveries or prepaid at any time, the same filing says.
Lenders call the wider family . Under the Basel 2 definition reproduced by the UNCTAD secretariat, it is structured short-term lending to finance reserves, inventories or receivables of exchange-traded commodities. It is repaid from the proceeds of selling the commodity, and the party funded has no independent capacity to repay. Our guide to structured commodity finance goes further.
Figure 3 · Try it
How fast deliveries repay a prepayment
Move the sliders to change the prepayment, price and share of each delivery applied.
Month 1 interest
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Total interest
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Months to repay
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Each month, interest equals the balance times the annual rate times 30 over 360. The value applied equals tonnes times price times the share applied. Principal repaid equals the value applied minus interest. This repeats until the balance is zero. The 360-day year follows the ARRC Actual/360 and the Federal Reserve H.15 annualization.
Our Research Desk applied each delivery's value first to interest (simple interest, 30 days on a 360-day year) and then to principal. The prices and rates shown are for illustration and are not Ossiano pricing.
This calculator explains the concept only. Delivery volumes, prices and contract terms vary by producer, offtaker and market.
04 · Inventory
A refiner can have a financing partner own its stock of oil
Refiners hold large stocks of crude oil and fuel. funds goods while they sit in storage. One version is , where a financing partner owns the stock.
US refiner PBF described such an agreement in its Form 10-K for 2021. Under it, J. Aron purchased and held to certain crude oil, intermediate and finished product inventory. Title means legal ownership. Products were sold back to PBF as they left PBF's storage tanks. When the agreement expired, PBF would have to buy back the inventory still outstanding. See our inventory finance instrument card.
05 · Documents and fraud controls
Oil and coal cases show why banks check documents closely
Under a letter of credit, banks pay against documents, not goods. This is the . A mismatch between the documents and the credit is a , and it can lead a bank to refuse payment. Careful document checks are the main control in the system.
Winson Oil v OCBC and SCB. On March 27, 2020, three same-day circular trades passed 780,000 barrels of gasoil from Hin Leong to Trafigura to Winson and back, the Court of Appeal of Singapore records. The banks declined payment under the letters of credit, on the basis that the bills were forged and no cargo was shipped. The Court of Appeal upheld their position. It held that fraud also covers statements made recklessly, careless whether they are true or false. The case shows document checks doing their job.
FIMBank v KCH Shipping. FIMBank held the for about 85,510 metric tons of steam coal. A bill of lading is the shipping document that shows the goods were received for shipment. The coal was released after discharge against a , a promise to cover any loss. The UK Supreme Court held that the one-year time limit in the applies to misdelivery after discharge. For anyone holding bills of lading, the case sets a clear deadline for claims. Our guide to the bill of lading explains these documents.
PT Adaro v Rabobank. A coal cargo was loaded on the MV Cielo Lucia for delivery to TPI Polene in Thailand, the High Court of Singapore records. A trader in the middle used two letters of credit over the same cargo, one from its buyer's bank and one from its own bank to the supplier. The court treated them as two separate transactions, and gave judgment for the plaintiffs for USD 1,297,255.06. See our back-to-back letter of credit card and our guide to fraud controls in trade finance.
06 · Project scale
Export credit agencies fund the plants behind the cargoes
Before gas can ship, someone must build the plant that cools it into LNG. An , a government-backed lender for national exports, often helps. On March 13, 2025, the board of the voted to proceed with a direct loan of up to $4.7 billion for US exports to the Mozambique LNG project, according to EXIM.
Once a US plant runs, buyers generally take the gas , at the loading port. They pay an inflation-indexed liquefaction fee plus the cost of the feed gas when a vessel is loaded, the EIA explains.
07 · Ossiano view
Energy trade is financed one cargo at a time
OBSERVATION 01
Split terms spread each cargo across tools
The SONARA contract put 50% of each cargo on a letter of credit and 50% on open account. Afrexim confirmed the letter of credit, adding a second bank promise to half of each cargo's value.
OBSERVATION 02
Future output is a financing asset
GeoPark's prepayments can be repaid through future oil deliveries. Producers turn oil they will pump later into working cash today.
OBSERVATION 03
The export mix is moving toward gas
US coal and crude exports fell in 2025 while LNG exports rose 26%. More of the cargoes that need finance are now LNG, covered in our guide How LNG cargoes are financed.
Summary
Each energy cargo gets its own mix of payment and finance
US coal exports were 93 million short tons in 2025, down from 108 million, and crude exports averaged 3,961 thousand barrels a day. Energy cargoes are financed one shipment at a time.
A 2026 English judgment records a fuel sale paid 50% by letter of credit and 50% on open account, with Afrexim as confirming bank. Producers also take prepayments that are repaid through future oil deliveries. Refiners can have a partner hold title to their stock. Structured commodity finance is repaid from the money the commodity sale brings in, and careful document checks keep the system sound.
Related guides: how LNG cargoes are financed, structured commodity finance, pre-export finance, letters of credit, standby letters of credit vs bank guarantees, fraud controls in trade finance and the bill of lading. Instrument cards: prepayment finance, structured commodity finance, inventory finance, confirmed letter of credit, back-to-back letter of credit and standby letter of credit. Every term is defined in the Trade Finance Glossary.
For questions on how these shifts affect existing or planned trade finance exposures, contact the Ossiano Research Desk.
Sources
- US Energy Information Administration, U.S. coal exports decreased in 2025 after four years of growth, April 1, 2026. Supports: coal exports of 93 million short tons in 2025 and 108 million in 2024; thermal coal down 18% and metallurgical coal down 11%.
- US Energy Information Administration, U.S. Exports of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products (annual), September 30, 2026. Supports: crude oil exports of 3,961 thousand barrels a day in 2025 and 4,093 thousand in 2024; crude oil and products of 10,785 thousand barrels a day in 2025.
- US Census Bureau, Annual 2025 Press Highlights, February 19, 2026. Supports: petroleum exports of $254.3 billion in 2025, the lowest since 2021.
- US Energy Information Administration, Global liquefied natural gas trade volumes reached record high in 2025, July 14, 2026. Supports: US LNG exports up 26% to 15.1 billion cubic feet a day in 2025.
- US Energy Information Administration, Ten years after first Sabine Pass cargo, U.S. LNG exports are still on the rise, February 24, 2026. Supports: buyers take US LNG free on board and pay a liquefaction fee plus feed gas costs.
- Export-Import Bank of the United States, EXIM Board of Directors Votes to Proceed with $4.7 Billion LNG Equipment and Services Transaction After Four-Year Delay, March 19, 2025. Supports: the March 13, 2025 board vote on a direct loan of up to $4.7 billion for exports to Mozambique LNG.
- High Court of England and Wales, Commercial Court, Trafigura PTE Ltd v Societe Nationale de Raffinage [2026] EWHC 1914 (Comm), July 30, 2026. Supports: cargo quantities (para 12); 50% by letter of credit and 50% on open account (para 13, quoted); Afrexim as confirming bank and final anti-suit relief (paras 17, 80 to 81).
- Court of Appeal of Singapore, Winson Oil Trading Pte Ltd v OCBC and SCB [2024] SGCA 31, 2024. Supports: circular trades of 780,000 barrels of gasoil on March 27, 2020; the banks' position under the letters of credit upheld; the fraud test (para 40).
- UK Supreme Court, FIMBank plc v KCH Shipping Co Ltd [2024] UKSC 38, November 13, 2024. Supports: about 85,510 metric tons of steam coal; the one-year Hague-Visby time bar applies to misdelivery after discharge (para 107).
- High Court of Singapore, PT Adaro Indonesia v Rabobank [2002] SGHC 114, May 28, 2002. Supports: the two letters of credit (para 2); the coal cargo on the MV Cielo Lucia (para 3); two separate transactions (para 21); judgment for USD 1,297,255.06.
- US SEC EDGAR, GeoPark Ltd, Form 20-F for fiscal year 2025, Note 29, Offtake and prepayment agreements, March 31, 2026. Supports: the May 2024 Vitol offtake and prepayment agreement; repayment through future oil deliveries; the BP prepayment terms.
- US SEC EDGAR, PBF Holding Co LLC, Form 10-K for fiscal year 2021, Inventory Intermediation Agreements, March 2, 2022. Supports: J. Aron purchases and holds title to inventory; products sold back as discharged; repurchase at expiry.
- UNCTAD secretariat, Basel 2: The New Basel Capital Accord and its Impact on Commodity Financing in Developing Countries, July 20, 2006. Supports: the commodities finance definition and its repayment source (Box 1).
- US International Trade Administration, Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for US Exporters, 2022. Supports: the standby letter of credit is not meant as the means of payment and can be drawn on default (Chapter 4).
- ICC Academy, Introduction and Types of Documentary Credit, undated. Supports: confirmation as a definite undertaking in addition to the issuing bank's.
- Alternative Reference Rates Committee, SOFR "In Arrears" Conventions for Syndicated Business Loans, July 22, 2020. Supports: Actual/360 day count, used in Figure 3.
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Selected Interest Rates (Daily), H.15, September 29, 2026. Supports: 360-day year annualization, used in Figure 3.
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