# ING toughens oil and gas policy to include trade finance, midstream Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2023-03-14 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: ING Strengthens Lending Policy to Oil and Gas Sector Meta Description: ING restricts finance to clients engaged in commodity or trade finance and 'midstream' infrastructure, aiming to reduce oil and gas volumes financed URL: https://financedigest.com/ing-toughens-oil-and-gas-policy-to-include-trade-finance-midstreamhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2023-03-14t070559z1lynxmpej2d06lrtroptp4climate-change-ing-groep-financing-1736814319490-compressed.jpg) By Virginia Furness LONDON (Reuters) – Dutch lender ING on Tuesday said it had again toughened its lending policy to the oil and gas sector, restricting finance to clients engaged in commodity or trade finance and “midstream” infrastructure. ING, a leading provider of commodity finance, said it was working on a methodology to reduce the volumes of traded oil and gas it finances in line with global climate goals with a view to setting targets by 2024. [Commodity trade](https://www.financedigest.com/a-brits-guide-to-understanding-commodity-trading.html "A Brit’s Guide to Understanding Commodity Trading") finance covers many types of loans, most of which are for less than a year, that facilitate global movement of goods from wheat to gasoline. As of yet, none of the largest TCF [banks have introduced climate-related restrictions to this part of its lending](https://www.financedigest.com/post-crash-banking-regulation-is-transforming-the-world-of-corporate-lending-for-the-better.html "Post-crash banking regulation is transforming the world of corporate lending – for the better") book, ING said, though Rabobank has done so. The bank’s move to restrict its activity reflects the fact the world needs to be less dependent on oil and gas – and is a sizeable part of ING’s exposure to the sector — Anne-Sophie Castelnau, [global head](https://www.financedigest.com/new-york-catches-up-with-london-to-head-citys-global-centres-survey.html "New York catches up with London to head City’s global centres survey") of sustainability at ING told Reuters. By committing ourselves in this direction, we are [sending a signal](https://www.financedigest.com/stocks-dollar-little-changed-as-inflation-data-sends-mixed-signals.html "Stocks, dollar little changed as inflation data sends mixed signals") to our clients that we are actively engaged in taking actions toward decarbonising our portfolio and progressively stepping out of that industry,” she said. ING said it would look to [cut the volume of traded oil](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-gains-as-russian-supply-cuts-temper-concerns-over-rate-hikes-high-stocks.html "Oil gains as Russian supply cuts temper concerns over rate hikes, high stocks") and gas it finances by 19% by 2030, in line with the International Energy Agency’s Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 Roadmap. ING also said it will no longer provide dedicated [finance to “midstream” infrastructure activities](https://www.financedigest.com/why-finance-teams-need-to-go-beyond-numbers-to-an-active-relationship-with-data.html "Why finance teams need to go beyond numbers to an active relationship with data ") such as processing and storage that helps new oil and gas fields to be developed. The [bank’s lending to midstream oil](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-rises-on-demand-hopes-as-banking-crisis-fears-subside.html "Oil rises on demand hopes as banking crisis fears subside") and gas was about $14 billion at the end of 2022, with about 10% of that linked to new oil and fields and hence covered by the new targets, Castelnau said. Last [year ING said it would not provide dedicated upstream finance](https://www.financedigest.com/2019-year-must-re-build-public-trust-finance.html "2019 is the year we must re-build public trust in finance") to new oil and gas fields. Its exposure to this segment stood at 3.1 [billion euros](https://www.financedigest.com/telecoms-group-orange-signs-sustainability-linked-refinancing-of-6-billion-euros-syndicated-credit-facility.html "Telecoms group Orange signs sustainability-linked refinancing of 6 billion euros syndicated credit facility") at the end of 2021. The idea is to take into [account feedback from the International Energy](https://www.financedigest.com/euro-zone-current-account-deficit-widens-again-on-large-energy-bill.html "Euro zone current account deficit widens again on large energy bill") Agency (IEA) that the world does not need new oil fields,” Castelnau added. (This story has been corrected to show that [cut in trade finance refers to volumes](https://www.financedigest.com/just-eat-delivers-q3-profit-as-cost-cuts-outweigh-lower-order-volumes.html "Just Eat delivers Q3 profit as cost cuts outweigh lower order volumes") in paragraph 6 and bullet point 1) (Reporting by Virginia Furness; editing by Simon Jessop and Tomasz Janowski) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---