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following a COVID-19 outbreak. The move will LNG prices remain low and securing financing
likely affect work on an expansion project, which is increasingly challenging. The convergence of
is already running a year behind schedule. LNG prices globally is also throwing the eco-
nomics of shipping the fuel over long distances
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping into question.
the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please Current trends are compounding the wor-
click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor . ries of US LNG developers. Reuters reported on
June 1 that the amount of pipeline gas flowing
LNG giant pushing ahead as others hold to US LNG export terminals was on track to fall
back to a nine-month low of 4.3bn cubic feet (122mn
Even as US LNG exports decline, the backers of cubic metres) per day as cargo cancellations kick
the Golden Pass LNG project, which is under in. This is anticipated to hit Cheniere Energy, the
construction in Texas, have requested author- US’ leading LNG exporter, particularly hard.
isation to expand the capacity of the terminal.
This is perhaps not surprising, considering the If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
project is majority-owned by Qatar Petroleum the global LNG sector then please click here for
(QP), which is also aggressively pursuing the NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor .
expansion of its domestic LNG export capacity.
QP owns a 70% stake in Golden Pass LNG, while Latin America faces sickness, sanctions
ExxonMobil holds the remaining 30%. (See: In two South American oil-producing states, the
Golden Pass LNG files for capacity expansion as coronavirus pandemic and related topics con-
cargo cancellations bite US exporters, page 15) tinue to dominate headlines.
The partners are seeking permission to boost The Colombian pipeline operator Cenit, a
the capacity of Golden Pass LNG to 18.1mn subsidiary of the national oil company (NOC)
tonnes per year, from 15.6mn tpy previously. Ecopetrol, has said it will extend measures
They say the increase “does not involve any designed to ease the financial burden on produc-
equipment changes or environmental permit ers that have been hit hard by declining energy
adjustments”, and would be achieved via “pro- demand and low crude prices. The company
duction efficiencies”. revealed last week that it intended to cut tariffs,
Separately, QP announced this week that it to keep special financing arrangements in place
had signed $19bn worth of orders for LNG ships for another six months and to be more flexible in
from South Korean shipbuilders Daewoo Ship- negotiations with users of its pipelines.
building & Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy In Brazil, more offshore operators are report-
Industries Holdings and Samsung Heavy Indus- ing COVID-19 infections among their con-
tries. This marks the largest ever single LNG tractors and staff members. As of May 28, the
vessel order, covering more than 100 ships to be National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas
delivered by 2027. and Biofuels (ANP) had recorded no less than
Qatar’s push on both domestic and overseas 544 cases. State-owned Petrobras reportedly
LNG development comes as other planned accounted for hundreds of these cases, and sev-
liquefaction projects in North America and eral private firms – including Dommo Energia
elsewhere appear to be increasingly in doubt. (Brazil), Enauta Participacoes (Brazil), Equinor
A handful of North American developers have (Norway), Perenco (UK/France) and Royal
already postponed final investment decisions Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands) – have also been
(FIDs) from this year until 2021, but analysts hit.
are now warning that it could be even longer Venezuela also continues to draw criticism
before any more liquefaction capacity is from the US for importing gasoline from Iran.
sanctioned. Officials in Washington have threatened to
A number of pre-FID projects in both the US penalise any companies found to be involved in
and Canada would be greenfield developments, this activity and have also delivered diplomatic
adding to their construction cost at a time when warnings to governments around the world.

Week 22 04•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7