CME Group Inc said on Tuesday it will develop the first physically deliverable U.S. liquefied natural gas futures contract as growing worldwide demand has made the United States a key LNG exporter. CME said the contract will take delivery at Cheniere Energy Inc’s Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana. It could not say when it will launch the new product or provide details other than that it will trade on the CME’s New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) like its Henry Hub natural gas futures. Overall world LNG consumption has risen to a record 39.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2017 from just 29.1 bcfd in 2010 and is expected to keep growing by about 3 percent a year through 2050, according to U.S. energy data. While LNG trade on exchanges like the CME is still small, experts believe volumes will increase rapidly […]