All terms

Bill of Lading (B/L)

The shipping document evidencing receipt of cargo and ownership title.

The Bill of Lading (B/L) is the shipping document issued by the carrier evidencing (1) receipt of cargo, (2) the contract of carriage, and (3) title to the goods. A "clean on-board" B/L is one with no stated defects.

For LC payment, the B/L is the most important document — the date of the B/L often triggers the pricing formula ("month of Bill of Lading Dated Brent average").

Related: SPA, LC, SGS.

What does Bill of Lading (B/L) mean in oil and commodity trading?
The shipping document evidencing receipt of cargo and ownership title.
How do I check a counterparty that uses Bill of Lading (B/L) in a deal?
The term itself is not enough to clear or condemn a deal. What matters is the counterparty behind the pitch. Screen that name for free against 8 sanctions lists plus PEP and OilFlow's first-party cluster corpus in seconds, or order the full 7-step dossier for $25, and confirm identity documents and banking details independently before you transact.

These terms show up in real deal pitches — some legitimate, some not. OilFlow screens the counterparty behind the pitch against 8 sanctions lists + PEP and a first-party-investigated fraud-cluster corpus, with a clearance verdict in under 30 seconds.