Trader and shipowner Trafigura has revealed the new financing it will use to buy US LNG cargoes.
Two revolving credit facilities worth a combined $400m have been secured with insurance from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (US Exim).
The group said the cash would be used exclusively to acquire gas from US exporters for shipment primarily to Europe.
This will “provide energy security through replacement of Russian gas due to the war in Ukraine”, Trafigura added.
The signing of the agreements followed approval by the US Exim board of financial institution buyer credit (FIBC) policies issued to two banks.
One lender was named Citibank, but the other was not revealed.
Trafigura chief financial officer Christophe Salmon said: “We’re delighted to have successfully closed the first LNG-based facilities backed by US Exim’s FBIC insurance policy, which supports American jobs by facilitating US exports.”
At the end of September, Trafigura said it had extended a $500m credit facility to keep buying and shipping out Saudi Arabian cargoes.
The shipowner and charterer said a new deal was signed with the Saudi Export-Import Bank by the lender’s deputy chief executive, Naif Al-Shammari, and Salmon.
“This agreement shall facilitate the purchase of domestically produced commodities from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and enable Trafigura to connect Saudi producers to more than 156 markets worldwide,” the group said.
Chief executive Jeremy Weir added that commodities such as oil products, copper and gold will be included in the scope of the agreement.
