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And this type of gas, produced from shale for- Industries and other Japanese companies.
mations and involving the use of fracking, is
what US LNG export terminals are using for If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
feedstock. the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then please
Engie’s exit from talks comes as a blow to click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor .
NextDecade, which is trying to secure offtake
agreements for an additional 9mn tonnes per GLNG: Progress in US-China LNG trade
year of LNG in order to reach a final investment The first Chinese deal to buy US LNG since the
decision (FID). This is in addition to the 2mn tpy trade war started between the two countries has
deal the company already has for Rio Grande. been announced. The deal, unveiled by Foran
Energy Group, is comparatively small but is seen
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping as a sign of confidence in relations between the
Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for US and China normalising.
NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor . Foran said it had signed an agreement to buy
26 cargoes of LNG from leading US exporter
FSU: Azerbaijan bullish on SGC Cheniere Energy between 2021 and 2025. Prices
Despite conflict raging with neighbouring under the deal, which was struck during the
Armenia, Azerbaijan remains adamant that it annual trade fair in Shanghai, will be linked to
will begin piping gas to Europe via the Southern the US’ Henry Hub benchmark.
Gas Corridor (SGC) shortly. The deal comes shortly after the PipeChina Cheniere sent
An official at Azerbaijan’s national oil firm natural gas project was completed in the third
SOCAR said last week that the Trans-Adriatic quarter of this year, allowing third-party access nine LNG cargoes
Pipeline (TAP), which runs from the Turk- to Chinese LNG terminals and natural gas pipe-
ish-Greek border to Italy, would be ready in just lines, according to comments from Cheniere’s to China between
two weeks. Once in full operation, the pipeline executive vice-president and chief commercial March and
will carry 10bn cubic metres per year of gas to officer, Anatol Feygin. He added on his compa-
European customers. It should reach that peak ny’s third-quarter earnings call that Cheniere did August 2020,
in 2023. “not see this as a one-off”.
Fighting over the disputed Nagorno-Kara- Chinese buyers stopped signing longer-term after trade
bakh region has been going on for six weeks, supply contracts with US LNG producers in
raising concerns about the security of oil and 2018, after Beijing introduced retaliatory tariffs improved
gas pipelines in Azerbaijan. Armenia has several on shipments of the super-chilled fuel from the
times denied Azeri claims that it has targeted US amid an escalating trade war. The tariff was
these pipelines with shelling. BP, which leads the subsequently raised from 10% initially to 25% in
consortium developing Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz June 2019.
field, said in October it had beefed up security at US-China LNG trade stopped altogether in
its infrastructure in the country. March 2019, resuming in March 2020, after the
Over in Russia, the government is talking two sides struck a preliminary trade deal and
up prospects for exporting hydrogen to Japan. Beijing agreed to ramp up US energy purchases.
Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin China introduced a tariff waiver programme
recently told Japan’s Nikkei that Russia aims to in a bid to increase imports, but its largest buyers
export 2mn tonnes per year (tpy) of hydrogen of LNG remained hesitant to strike long-term
by 2035. He said that Russia was already hold- deals amid still-fragile bilateral relations and
ing negotiations on hydrogen exports with the ongoing market volatility. However, there are
Japanese government, as well as Kawasaki Heavy hopes that relations are now starting to improve.

Week 45 12•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9