Qatargas said on Thursday it has sold its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot cargo this month to Japan's Jera Co, the world's top LNG buyer.

"Qatargas agreed with Japan's newly established Jera Co. Inc. on the first spot LNG cargo purchase," Qatargas, the world's biggest LNG exporter, said in a statement. The spot cargo was delivered to the Futtsu LNG Terminal in Tokyo on May 13, it added.

"With Jera's inception, Qatargas will deliver a total of nearly 7 million tonnes per annum of LNG under a long-term supply contract to this new entity."

Jera said last month it will shun contracts with destination restrictions from now on, as it needs the flexibility to re-sell cargoes in today's oversupplied market.

LNG buyers have long complained about the constraints that destination clauses place on their supply management, but most still have to accept contracts that confine deliveries to a single port, that is until a huge surplus of supply developed over the last two years.

Many importers are now opting to buy more cargoes on the spot market, while sellers have been more willing to grant flexibility on destination to get clients to commit to or remain in long-term supply agreements.

Qatar is becoming commercially sharper, using traders and tenders to grab new customers, and fighting to hold on to its share in the prized Asian market.

In the coming five years Qatar could be overtaken by Australia as the world's top supplier of LNG, a shift which threatens its dominance in Asia, which accounts for almost three quarters of the global market and has paid the highest prices. - Reuters