In Europe and the US, the development of trading hubs for natural gas has helped settle disputes over pricing, created greater transparency over the market, and offered a mechanism through which buyers and sellers can come together to hedge their risk. In Japan, the government hopes that similar benefits can be unlocked by the creation of a local trading hub for liquefied natural gas (LNG). But so far, such hopes have gone unfulfilled. Industry participants say the structure of the global LNG