LNG trade hit a record in 2025, and each cargo is priced, shipped and paid as its own financed transaction
Back to the Trade Finance Guide
Ossiano Guides · Sectors and corridors
US LNG leaves the terminal free on board at a price built from a liquefaction fee and gas linked to Henry Hub. Bank instruments, credit terms and export credit support then decide how each cargo invoice is paid.
Terms like this have a quick explainer. Tap or hover on them.
01 · The market
LNG trade set a record in 2025, and the United States supplied about a quarter of it
More (LNG) crossed the sea in 2025 than ever before. LNG is natural gas cooled into a liquid so ships can carry it.
Global LNG trade rose 5.4% to a record 56.3 in 2025, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Bcf/d means billion cubic feet per day. US LNG exports rose 26% to 15.1 Bcf/d. The US share of the world total rose from 21% in 2024 to 26% in 2025. Qatar exported 10.6 Bcf/d in 2025, up 3%.
The International Gas Union (IGU) counts trade in tonnes, not cubic feet. It puts 2024 LNG trade at 411.24 million tonnes, up 2.4%. It puts world liquefaction capacity at 494.4 million tonnes per year at the end of 2024. Its 2025 World LNG Report says 2024 trade linked 22 exporting markets with 48 importing markets. The EIA and IGU figures use different units and years, so read them separately.
Figure 1 · Interactive
US and Qatar LNG exports, 2024 and 2025
Tap a bar to see that exporter's volume and year.
Source: US Energy Information Administration, Today in Energy, March 27, 2025 and July 14, 2026. The 2024 US figure is from the March 2025 article. The 2025 figures are from the July 2026 article. EIA does not state a 2024 Qatar volume in these articles, so no 2024 bar is shown for Qatar.
02 · The price
A US cargo invoice is a liquefaction fee plus the cost of gas linked to Henry Hub
The price of a US cargo has two parts: a fee for turning gas into liquid, and the cost of the gas itself.
Buyers generally buy US LNG (FOB), the EIA explains. FOB means the buyer takes the cargo once it is loaded on the ship. The buyer pays a , which is linked to inflation and covers liquefaction, storage and loading. The buyer also pays for the , the gas sent into the plant. Both are paid when the ship is loaded.
A common estimate for the feedgas cost in US contracts is 115% of the futures price, the same EIA article says. Henry Hub is the main US natural gas price. The 115% figure is an estimate, and contract terms differ.
US contracts generally offer , the EIA adds. Buyers can send cargoes to other markets or resell their terminal capacity. The invoice value at loading is the amount the buyer must pay. Figure 3 works one through.
03 · Where the cargoes go
Europe took more than half of US LNG in 2024, while Asia's share grew
Most US LNG went to Europe in 2024, but more went to Asia than the year before.
US LNG exports were 11.9 Bcf/d in 2024, about the same as in 2023, according to the EIA. Europe, including Turkiye, stayed the main destination with 53% (6.3 Bcf/d). Asia's share rose from 26% (3.1 Bcf/d) in 2023 to 33% (4.0 Bcf/d) in 2024.
The destination decides where the buyer and its bank are based. In the letter of credit steps set out by the US International Trade Administration (ITA), the buyer's own bank opens the credit and hands the documents to the buyer.
04 · Paying for the cargo
Letters of credit and standbys turn a cargo invoice into a bank's promise to pay
A bank can stand behind the buyer's payment, either as the main way to pay or as a backup.
The ITA describes a (LC) as a bank's commitment, made for the buyer, to pay the seller if the LC terms are met. The buyer's bank is the . The ITA shows an LC deal in eight steps, from the buyer's application to the release of documents. A second bank, the , can add its own promise to pay on top of the issuing bank's, as the ICC Academy sets out.
A works differently. The ITA says it is not meant to be the way goods are paid for. The seller can draw on it if the buyer breaks the contract, including if the buyer does not pay. The FDIC describes it as a bank's irrevocable commitment to pay a named beneficiary. That suits a seller shipping on terms, where the buyer pays after delivery.
What is sourced on LNG payment is the price structure: EIA says buyers pay the liquefaction fee and feedgas when the ship is loaded. No public source gives the split of LNG cargoes by payment method. This guide shows the routes a cargo invoice can take. It does not say how often each one is used.
Figure 2 · Interactive
Two ways a cargo invoice gets paid
Pick a route to follow the cargo from loading to payment.
Steps are drawn from the US International Trade Administration Trade Finance Guide, 2022, ICC Academy, and the FDIC Manual of Examination Policies, section 3.8. Pricing at loading follows EIA, February 24, 2026.
05 · Try it
The invoice at loading sets the amount to pay and the cost of waiting for payment
The longer the gap between loading and payment, the more it costs to carry the invoice.
The calculator builds a sample FOB cargo invoice from the EIA's price description. It then shows what it costs to carry that invoice from loading to payment. It uses simple interest on an day count, which divides the actual days by 360. The time to payment is the . MMBtu is the unit gas is priced in.
Figure 3 · Try it
What one cargo invoice costs to carry
Move the sliders to change cargo size, gas price and days to payment.
Days to payment
FOB price per
-
Cargo invoice at loading
-
Cost to carry the invoice
-
Formula in words: invoice = cargo MMBtu x (Henry Hub x 115% + liquefaction fee); carrying cost = invoice x annual rate x days / 360; per day = invoice x annual rate / 360.
Our Research Desk used the FOB structure EIA describes, feedgas at 115% of Henry Hub, and simple interest: invoice x annual rate x days / 360. The prices, fee and rates shown are for illustration and are not Ossiano pricing.
This calculator explains the concept only. Contract prices, fees, tenors and rates vary by buyer, contract and market conditions.
06 · Financing the plants
Export credit agencies help finance the LNG projects that produce the cargoes
Government export banks help pay for the plants and equipment behind the cargoes.
The (EXIM) is an , a government-backed body that supports a country's exports. On March 13, 2025, its board voted to go ahead with the second amendment of a 2019 direct loan of up to $4.7 billion for exports to the Mozambique LNG project, according to an EXIM release. EXIM says the deal supports an estimated 16,400 US jobs at more than 68 companies across 14 states.
On September 18, 2025, the EXIM board approved $99 million for Bahamas LNG Partner Ltd. for US liquefied natural gas. EXIM's Loan Guarantee provides financing for overseas buyers of US capital goods and related services. It covers 100 percent of and , meaning both buyer non-payment and losses from events in the buyer's country.
The same idea can apply to the commodity itself. Through , exporters are paid in advance for products they will export, as the UNCTAD secretariat describes it. In an oil example, GeoPark's Form 20-F for 2025 states that amounts drawn on its prepayment facility with Vitol can be repaid through future oil deliveries. See our guides to pre-export finance and structured commodity finance.
Figure 4
LNG export finance, three public examples
Scan across for the financing type and date.
Sources: Export-Import Bank of the United States, March 19, 2025 and September 18, 2025; Court of Appeal of England and Wales, [2025] EWCA Civ 457, April 16, 2025.
07 · When cargoes are not delivered
A 2025 appeal ruling shows a seller must deliver the spot cargoes it agreed to sell
A cargo sold for one-off delivery is still a firm promise, and a seller that fails to deliver can owe damages.
In Nigeria LNG Ltd v Taleveras Petroleum Trading DMCC [2025] EWCA Civ 457, the Court of Appeal records an award made by a London arbitration tribunal on January 30, 2023. The tribunal held NLNG liable for failing to supply 19 FOB cargoes of LNG. The cargoes were due under a Master FOB LNG Sales Agreement dated January 27, 2020 and a confirmation notice.
The award ordered NLNG to pay US$24m in damages for Taleveras's lost profits on the 19 cargoes. The Court of Appeal dismissed NLNG's appeal on April 16, 2025.
08 · Ossiano view
The cargo invoice is the unit of LNG trade finance
OBSERVATION 01
US volume growth adds invoices to be paid
US LNG exports rose 26% in 2025 to 15.1 Bcf/d. More cargoes loading means more single FOB invoices. Each one needs a settled way to be paid.
OBSERVATION 02
Henry Hub links the invoice to a published price
EIA describes feedgas commonly set at 115% of the Henry Hub futures price. That gives buyers and their banks a clear, public reference for sizing each cargo's payment instrument.
OBSERVATION 03
Flexible destinations widen the set of paying banks
US contracts generally let buyers redirect cargoes, and Asia's share of US LNG rose to 33% in 2024. A cargo can end its voyage in a different banking market from the one it was bought for.
Summary
Each LNG cargo is priced at loading and paid through its own route
Global LNG trade reached a record 56.3 Bcf/d in 2025, and US exports rose 26% to 15.1 Bcf/d. US buyers generally take cargoes free on board. They pay a liquefaction fee plus feedgas, which is commonly estimated at 115% of the Henry Hub futures price.
Each cargo then carries an invoice that must be paid. A letter of credit makes a bank's promise the way the seller gets paid. A standby letter of credit sits behind open account terms and is drawn only if the buyer defaults. No public source gives the split of LNG cargoes by payment method. Export credit agencies help finance the plants: EXIM approved up to $4.7 billion for Mozambique LNG.
Related guides: letters of credit, standby letters of credit vs bank guarantees, the payment terms spectrum, open account trade, financing energy and coal trade, structured commodity finance, pre-export finance and Incoterms. Instrument cards: letter of credit (sight), confirmed letter of credit, standby letter of credit, open account, ECA-backed finance, prepayment finance and structured commodity finance. 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, Global liquefied natural gas trade volumes reached record high in 2025, July 14, 2026. Supports: global LNG trade 2025; US LNG exports 2025; US share of global exports; Qatar exports 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: US LNG FOB pricing structure; feedgas cost estimate; destination flexibility.
- US Energy Information Administration, US remained largest LNG exporter in 2024, March 27, 2025. Supports: US LNG exports in 2024; US LNG destination shares 2023 and 2024.
- International Gas Union, 2025 World LNG Report press release, May 22, 2025. Supports: global LNG trade 2024; liquefaction capacity at end-2024.
- International Gas Union, 2025 World LNG Report, May 2025. Supports: exporting and importing markets in 2024.
- 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: Mozambique LNG direct loan of up to US$4.7 billion; jobs and supplier footprint.
- Export-Import Bank of the United States, EXIM Board of Directors approves infrastructure investments totaling nearly $285 million, September 18, 2025. Supports: Bahamas LNG approval of US$99 million; around 1,400 US jobs across the two approvals.
- Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Nigeria LNG Ltd v Taleveras Petroleum Trading DMCC [2025] EWCA Civ 457, April 16, 2025. Supports: 19 FOB cargoes under a master sales agreement and spot confirmation notice; US$24m damages; dismissal of the appeal.
- US International Trade Administration, Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for US Exporters (2022 edition), July 2022. Supports: LC definition; eight-step LC flow; standby LC definition.
- ICC Academy, Introduction and Types of Documentary Credit, undated. Supports: confirmation definition.
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, RMS Manual of Examination Policies, Section 3.8, June 2019. Supports: standby letter of credit definition.
- UNCTAD secretariat, Collateralized Commodity Financing (UNCTAD/COM/84), July 2, 1996. Supports: pre-export financing definition.
- US SEC EDGAR, GeoPark Ltd, Form 20-F 2025, Note 29, March 31, 2026. Supports: prepayment repaid through future oil deliveries.
- Export-Import Bank of the United States, Loan Guarantee, undated. Supports: financing for overseas buyers of US capital goods; 100% commercial and political risk cover.
- 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 used in Figure 3.
The real economy moves through Ossiano.
