Karen Lukacs, Eka Software Solutions, Canada, highlights the critical role that simulations play in facilitating effective LNG trading.
While oil remains the most widely traded commodity worldwide, with annual physical crude deliveries of at least US$2.3 trillion, the LNG market is growing more rapidly.¹ According to McKinsey Energy Insights, LNG volumes increased to US$150 billion last year. By next year, LNG volumes will be more than triple what they were at the start of the century, making it the quickest-growing segment of the fossil-fuel industry.
The biggest energy commodity traders now trade two or three times as much oil they did a decade ago, but their earnings have remained largely flat as the margin per barrel has narrowed. These narrowing margins have made LNG trading more appealing. Growing demand for cleaner burning fuels has also fuelled demand for LNG. There are now more than 800 people working in LNG trading and sales, a significant increase from the 150 or so trading LNG a decade ago.