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even greater difficulty in the second and third eight export credit agencies (ECAs), 19 commer-
quarters. cial bank facilities and a loan from the African
Gazprom has sought to reassure investors Development Bank (AfDB).
that its dividend policy remains unchanged, but The agreement secures the majority of the
these investors remain sceptical, with this sen- required funds for the $20bn Mozambique LNG
timent reflected in the company’s share price. project. Construction on the terminal is under-
The supplier is taking steps to cut its operat- way, and LNG production is due to begin around
ing costs and capital investments in 2020, with 2024. Total and its partners will hope that the
the latter due to be reduced to RUB1.3 trillion global glut of LNG will have eased significantly
($18.21bn), from an earlier forecast of RUB1.6 by then.
trillion ($22.42bn). In the immediate term, however, the glut
Azerbaijan’s state energy group SOCAR has continues to be exacerbated by new liquefac-
warned that some of the infrastructure that car- tion coming online in the US. Last week, Kinder
ries Caspian oil and gas to world markets could Morgan said the seventh liquefaction train at its
be at risk, following border clashes with Arme- Elba Island LNG terminal was ready to enter ser-
nia. 15 servicemen from Azerbaijan and six from vice. The facility is a comparatively small-scale
Armenia died last week. The countries have a one, with each of the terminal’s 10 trains having
long-standing dispute over the Nagorno-Karab- a capacity of 300,000 tpy of LNG. Nonetheless,
akh region that has periodically flared up. all of the remaining units are anticipated to be
The infrastructure SOCAR was referring online by the end of the summer, contributing
to includes various oil and gas pipelines, some to the rise in US liquefaction capacity. It is worth
of which are situated not far from the territory noting, however, that no cargoes have been
where clashes took place. exported from Elba Island since January amid
In Kazakhstan, a long-standing dispute the downturn in global demand.
between the government and Moldovan busi- Total US LNG export capacity is anticipated
nessman Anatolie Stati wages on. Stati claims to rise from 9.7 bcf (274.7 mcm) per day cur-
that in 2010, oilfields controlled by his com- rently to 9.8 bcf (277.5 mcm) per day by the end
panies were expropriated by the Kazakh state. of 2020 and 10.5 bcf (297.4 mcm) per day by the
The Amsterdam Court of Appeal last week end of 2021.
confirmed it had rejected Kazakhstan’s appeal
against a $543mn award in favour of Stati by a If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Stockholm arbitration tribunal in 2013. Stati the global LNG sector then please click here for
continues to seek the arrest of Kazakh property NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor.
overseas, to put pressure on the government to
settle the award. Latin America: Budget and production cuts
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping the plans and performance of operators in Latin
the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please America.
click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor. For example, Colombia’s national oil com-
pany (NOC) Ecopetrol has trimmed more than
GLNG: Export projects proceed $1bn from its capital investment budget for 2020.
Despite the challenging conditions in the LNG The firm had said last November that it was pre-
market, export projects for the fuel in the US pared to spend more, to the tune of $4.5-5.5bn,
and Mozambique have announced steps forward after turning in a solid financial performance in
during the past week. At the same time, however, 2019. In the wake of the pandemic and the Sau-
setbacks have come for others. di-Russian oil price war, though, it is now look-
In one of the most significant developments ing at a budget of $3.0-3.4bn this year.
for a new LNG export project in the past week, Meanwhile, the pandemic is also affecting
France’s Total announced that it had signed a operational performance in Argentina. New
$14.9bn senior debt financing agreement for government data show that the country saw
the Mozambique LNG venture. The deal is the natural gas output drop by 12.2% year on year
largest ever project financing for a development in May, marking the lowest monthly total in the
in Africa, according to the French company. The last two decades. Yields are reported to be down
financing includes direct and covered loans from at both conventional and unconventional fields.

Week 29 23•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7