Page 6 - LatAmOil Week 45 2019

LatAmOil M E X I C O LatAmOil
Pemex suffers ransomware attack
MEXICO’S national oil company (NOC) Pemex was hit by a ransomware attack at the weekend and is still feeling the effects of this cybersecurity breach.
The company detected the attack on Novem- ber 10, when it received a message demanding payment in exchange for the removal of mal- ware that was hampering the operations of its computer systems. The massage read, in part: “Your network has been penetrated. This link and your decryption key will expire in 14 days after your systems were infected ... We have gathered all your private sensitive data. So if you decide not to pay, we would share it. It may harm your business reputation.”
The message called on Pemex to pay 565 Bitcoin (equivalent to about $5mn) within 48 hours. According to cybersecurity analysts, it originated from a site on the dark web affiliated with a type of ransomware known as Doppel Paymer.
Pemex has apparently not complied with the hackers’ demands. In fact, Mexican Energy Minister Rocio Nahle, who also serves as chair- man of the company’s board of directors, said on November 12 that the NOC would not pay the ransom. As of press time, the firm’s networks were still compromised.
The NOC has sought to reassure the public, saying that the cyberattack had been quickly “neutralised.” It has also issued statements
declaring that the incident had affected less 5% of all its computers and stressing that all of its storage and distribution units were still operat- ing normally.
For his part, Nahle has also said that the com- pany’s wells and refineries remain on line, even though the incident affected Pemex’s admin- istrative headquarters in Mexico City. Mean- while on November 12, an anonymous source told Reuters that Pemex was working to protect its information technology systems by wiping infected machines clean and installing software patches so that unaffected computers could reconnect to company networks.
Other sources have claimed, though, that the company has not revealed the full impact of the ransomware attack. For example, Pemex employees told Expansión anonymously that the incident had affected as many as five out of every seven computers at some locations. These sources also reported problems at multi- ple Pemex facilities, including the NOC’s refin- ery in Salamanca and a drilling services unit in Villahermosa.
Meanwhile, other sources who asked not to be named noted that Pemex’s finance depart- ment had been hit and was having to issue bills and receipts manually.
“In finances, all the computers are off. There could eventually be problems with payments,” one source told Reuters. ™
PANAMA
US LNG exporters looking at
increased shipments via Panama Canal
EXPORTERS of US LNG are poised to send more gas to Asia, taking advantage of new tran- sit slots at the Panama Canal.
The canal has already had a major impact on the LNG trade, after being expanded in 2016 in order to accommodate larger vessels. Even with tolls, it is the shortest and cheapest route for shipments to Asia from the US Gulf of Mexico – where most of the country’s new LNG export terminals are located – and other points along its coastline.
In June 2018, an increase in the maximum allowable beam for vessels transiting the Neo- panamax locks – from 49 metres to 51.25 metres – made it possible for Q-Flex tankers, the second-largest class of LNG carrier glob- ally, to transit the canal. These tankers have the capacity to carry 210,000-216,000 cubic metres of gas. The first Q-Flex tanker to pass through
the Panama Canal was Qatargas’ Al Safliya, in May 2019.
This came as the number of LNG transits through the canal was already rising. A total of 399 LNG carriers passed through the canal in the year up to September 2019, compared with just 163 two years before, according to the Panama Canal Authority. Some slots for LNG carriers remain unclaimed, but nonetheless the authority anticipates that shipments to Asia will continue to grow.
Indeed, US exports of LNG rose by 60% to
about 22mn tonnes in the first eight months of
2019. Despite the collapse of US LNG shipments
to China, exports to other Asian countries have
been on the rise and account for much of the overall increase. Shipments to Japan increased
by 60% over this period, with exports to Singa-
pore, Thailand and South Korea also on the up.. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 45 14•November•2019