Build an LNG Enquiry Around the Cargo Decision

Overview

The cargo team may be exploring a sale while the chartering team needs a transport indication. If those stages are not stated, a recipient may spend effort reviewing a programme that is still highly provisional, or the sender may treat an exploratory response as ready for commitment. A clear enquiry aligns the work with the decision.

Key takeaways

• State whether the request seeks screening, an indication or a scoped offer.
• Identify the cargo information source and preserve the stated quantity units.
• Give each loading or receiving alternative its own reference.
• Ask recipients to identify assumptions and unresolved review requirements.
• Define the next decision point and the authority for any later instruction.

Start with the question you need answered

An enquiry should open with a concise statement of purpose. The desk might need to understand whether a proposed window merits further work, compare two receiving alternatives or obtain an offer for a defined movement. Each purpose calls for a different level of detail and response.

Avoid asking for a firm commercial answer while withholding information necessary to define the proposition. If details remain open, say what is missing and ask whether the recipient can provide a qualified indication on the available basis.

Also explain what the response will be used for. A budget screening exercise does not necessarily require the same commitment as a candidate-selection decision. That context helps the recipient frame its answer and prevents the sender from later widening the meaning of an early response.

The enquiry should identify the person who can clarify commercial scope and the source able to answer cargo information questions. These may be different roles. A single contact can coordinate them without pretending to hold every answer.

Preserve the cargo basis and its units

Attach or reference the controlled cargo information supplied by the responsible party. Record its issue and the meaning of the quantity fields as supplied. Do not silently convert between volume, mass or energy descriptions using a generic factor.

GIIGNL's custody-transfer resources address measurement and calculation practices for LNG. This underscores the need to preserve the stated measurement basis rather than improvise one in an enquiry. GIIGNL technical resources.

If the trade uses different quantity expressions for planning and commercial settlement, identify that distinction and request clarification from the appropriate source. The enquiry does not need to reproduce technical calculation methods; it needs to make the basis unambiguous enough for the recipient's task.

Where the cargo information is preliminary, mark it as preliminary and identify the expected update. A recipient can then state whether its response depends on confirmation of that information.

This approach avoids false precision. A neatly formatted number is not more reliable merely because the sender has converted it into the unit preferred by a template.

Describe alternatives as separate propositions

If the desk is considering more than one destination or timing option, give each a distinct scenario reference. State which cargo information is common and which assumptions differ.

Do not combine alternatives in a sentence that leaves the recipient to choose the most convenient interpretation. A response to the easiest scenario may later be mistaken for coverage of the whole enquiry.

The matrix can be adapted to the transaction without becoming a technical questionnaire. Let responsible reviewers specify the detailed information they need.

Ask for a response that preserves uncertainty

Request that the recipient identify the scenario considered, the information reference used and the conditions attached to its answer. This makes the response useful even when it remains provisional.

Ask which changes would require the response to be reconsidered. A cargo revision, receiving change or different window may affect the proposition. The desk should know which assumptions matter before it treats the response as reusable.

Keep commercial pricing questions separate from specialist review questions where appropriate. An owner may provide an indication while another review is open. The enquiry should invite that distinction rather than forcing the recipient into a broad yes-or-no answer.

Also identify the next decision point. A recipient needs to know when the information will be useful, but an internal deadline should not be presented as if it creates an obligation for every outside party. Seek a realistic response arrangement and record any limitation.

Control the clarification round

When a recipient asks a question, route it to the source able to answer. Preserve the question's wording where technical detail matters. The commercial coordinator can explain context without replacing the specialist answer.

If a clarification changes the enquiry basis, issue a new controlled reference to relevant recipients. Do not send a correction only to the party that noticed the gap while continuing to compare its updated response with others based on the older pack.

Maintain a short clarification log showing the question, source of the answer and effect on the enquiry. This reduces repeated requests and gives the next colleague a record of why the final proposition differs from the initial one.

Close the round by identifying which responses are ready for the intended decision and which remain conditional. The business can then choose whether to continue developing an option or proceed with another available proposition.

Fictional case: mixed destination assumptions

A fictional LNG trader sends an enquiry mentioning a preferred receiver and an alternative receiver in the same paragraph. The cargo quantity is copied from a planning sheet without explaining its basis. One respondent considers the preferred destination, while another frames its indication around the alternative.

The trader initially compares the replies as though they cover the same shipment. A coordinator notices the different destination references and asks both respondents to identify the scenario and assumptions used.

The team rebuilds the enquiry with separate alternatives, a controlled cargo pack and a clear request for provisional indications. It obtains clarification of the quantity basis from the responsible source and circulates the same update to both respondents.

The resulting replies are easier to compare. They still contain conditions, but those conditions are connected to identifiable propositions. The enquiry now supports a decision about which option to develop rather than creating the appearance of a finished selection.

Common mistakes

Combining several destinations into one ambiguous request makes responses difficult to compare. Give each alternative a clear reference and ask which one the reply covers.

Another mistake is to convert cargo quantities using an unexplained generic factor. Preserve the supplied basis and seek the responsible source's clarification.

Finally, avoid treating a provisional response as a firm offer because the enquiry lacked a clear purpose. State the decision stage and retain the respondent's limitations.

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