Units used in the LNG trade can be confusing. Produced gas is measured in volume (cubic meters or cubic feet), but once it is converted into LNG, it is measured in mass units, usually tons or million tons. (This is abbreviated as MMT or more commonly MT).

LNG ship sizes are specified in cargo volume (typically, thousands of cubic meters), and once the LNG has been reconverted to gas, it is sold by energy units (in millions of British thermal units or namely MMBtu).

One million ton of LNG contains the energy equivalent of about 48 billion cubic feet (48 bcf) of natural gas, or 8.59 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) or 1.17 milllion tons of oil equivalent (mmtoe).

An LNG facility producing 1 million tons per year (million tons per annum or mtpa) of LNG requires 48 bcf (1.36 bcm) of natural gas per year, equivalent to 133 MMcfd. This facility would require recoverable reserves of approximately 1 tcf over a 20-year life.

Similarly, a 4-MTPA LNG train would consume an equivalent of 534 MMcfd (requiring reserves of 4 tcf over 20 years).

One ton of LNG is equivalent to around 51.9 mmbtu. To convert the price of one ton of LNG into the price per mmbtu ($100 a ton of LNG = $1.9 mmbtu)

1 cubic meter = 35.3 cubic feet