Page 10 - EurOil Week 22

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A number of pre-FID projects in both the US threatened to penalise any companies found
and Canada would be greenfield developments, to be involved in the transaction and have
adding to their construction cost at a time when also delivered diplomatic warnings to gov-
LNG prices remain low and securing financing ernments around the world.
is increasingly challenging. The convergence of In related news, Libre Abordo, the obscure
LNG prices globally is also throwing the eco- Mexican company that has been executing an
nomics of shipping the fuel over long distances oil-for-water agreement with Venezuela, has
into question. declared bankruptcy. Venezuelan President
Current trends are compounding the worries Nicolas Maduro has blamed the US sanctions
of US LNG developers. Reuters reported on June on his country for Libre Abordo’s woes.
1 that the amount of pipeline gas flowing to US
LNG export terminals was on track to fall to a If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
nine-month low of 4.3 bcf (122 mcm) per day as the Latin American oil and gas sector then please click
cargo cancellations kick in. This is expected to hit here for NewsBase’s LatAmOil Monitor.
Cheniere Energy, the US’ leading LNG exporter,
particularly hard. Middle Eastern moves
All eyes are focused on OPEC’s next move but
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping Iran finds a way to tweak the US’ nose.
the global LNG sector then please click here for This week’s scheduled meeting of OPEC+
NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor . to consider an extension of the oil production
cuts agreed for May and June will be closely
Latin America faces sickness, sanctions watched by the industry. The past two months
In two South American oil-producing states, the have seen unprecedented volatility and leading
coronavirus pandemic and related topics con- up to this week, oil prices have fluctuated wildly;
tinue to dominate headlines. it is reasonably clear that much hangs on OPEC’s
The Colombian pipeline operator Cenit, a meeting.
subsidiary of the national oil company (NOC) Turkey’s moves in various areas of the Medi-
Ecopetrol, has said it will extend measures terranean have a familiar ring and the latest is its
designed to ease the financial burden on pro- plan to launch oil exploration in East Med under
ducers that have been hit hard by declining a pact with Libyan government. This could be
energy demand and low crude prices. The considered both a daring and provocative initia-
company revealed last week that it intended to tive and it is likely that much more will be heard
cut tariffs, to keep special financing arrange- on this and other moves in the coming months.
ments in place for another six months and to Mixed news comes from the Emirates:
be more flexible in negotiations with users of ADNOC was obliged to cut July crude nomi-
its pipelines. nations to meet the requirements of the OPEC+
In Brazil, more offshore operators are report- pact but there are signs of progress on bids for
ing COVID-19 infections among their con- ADNOC’s gas pipelines.
tractors and staff members. As of May 28, the Even more mixed news comes from Iraq: Pet-
National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and rofac’s has secured a further six-month contract
Biofuels (ANP) had made note of no less than extension with BOC for its long-standing Iraq
544 cases. State-owned Petrobras reportedly Crude Oil Export Expansion Project but more
accounted for hundreds of these cases, and sev- to the point, Iraq’s oil rig count has tumbled by
eral private firms – including Dommo Energia almost two-thirds this year. Iraq has struggled
(Brazil), Enauta Participacoes (Brazil), Equinor more than most to meet its reduced quota. Its
(Norway), Perenco (UK/France) and Royal new prime minister has a very hard hand to play
Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands) – have also been now and looking ahead.
hit.
Venezuela also continues to draw crit- If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
icism from the US for importing gasoline the Middle East’s oil and gas sector then please click
from Iran. Officials in Washington have here for NewsBase’s MEOG Monitor.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 22 04•June•2020