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However, Net4Gas has excluded both projects carries Caspian oil and gas to world markets
in its 2021-2030 development programme pub- could be at risk, following border clashes with
lished this month. It may build smaller-sized Armenia. 15 servicemen from Azerbaijan and
interconnections instead, depending on the six from Armenia died last week. The coun-
results of capacity auctions scheduled for 2021. tries have a long-standing dispute over the
The operator has also pushed back the launch Nagorno-Karabakh region that has periodically
of these potential pipelines, to 2027-28 for the flared up. The infrastructure SOCAR was refer-
Polish link and 2026 for the connection with ring to includes various oil and gas pipelines,
Austria. Net4Gas attributes these decisions to some of which are situated not far from the terri-
its failure to get either project on the EU’s list of tory where clashes took place.
projects of common interest (PCIs), which can In Kazakhstan, a long-standing dispute
gain access to grants from the bloc’s Connecting between the government and Moldovan busi-
Europe Facility (CEF). nessman Anatolie Stati wages on. Stati claims
Under its new president, Ursula von der that in 2010, oilfields controlled by his com-
Leyen, the European Commission has taken a panies were expropriated by the Kazakh state.
tougher stance against fossil fuels. This shift in The Amsterdam Court of Appeal last week
policy was reflected in the fact that the EC’s latest confirmed it had rejected Kazakhstan’s appeal
PCI proposals presented in November included against a $543mn award in favour of Stati by a
far fewer new gas infrastructure projects. Stockholm arbitration tribunal in 2013. Stati
continues to seek the arrest of Kazakh property
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping overseas, to put pressure on the government to
Europe’s oil and gas sector then please click here for settle the award.
NewsBase’s EurOil Monitor .
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
FSU: Russia goes local the former Soviet Union’s oil and gas sector then
Russia’s Gazprom is maintaining its 40% div- please click here for NewsBase’s FSU Monitor .
idend policy for this year, it has said, despite
booking its first quarterly loss since 2015 in the GLNG: Export projects proceed
first quarter. The company suffered as a result of Despite the challenging conditions in the LNG
low prices, a collapse in European sales because market, export projects for the fuel in the US
of coronavirus lockdowns and ruble devalua- and Mozambique have announced steps forward
tion. It will face even greater difficulty in the sec- during the past week. At the same time, however,
ond and third quarters. setbacks have come for others.
Gazprom has sought to reassure investors In one of the most significant developments
that its dividend policy remains unchanged, but for a new LNG export project in the past week,
these investors remain sceptical, with this sen- France’s Total announced that it had signed a
timent reflected in the company’s share price. $14.9bn senior debt financing agreement for
The supplier is taking steps to cut its operat- the Mozambique LNG venture. The deal is the
ing costs and capital investments in 2020, with largest ever project financing for a development
the latter due to be reduced to RUB1.3 trillion in Africa, according to the French company. The
($18.21bn), from an earlier forecast of RUB1.6 financing includes direct and covered loans from
trillion ($22.42bn). eight export credit agencies (ECAs), 19 commer-
Azerbaijan’s state energy group SOCAR has cial bank facilities and a loan from the African
warned that some of the infrastructure that Development Bank (AfDB).

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 22•July•2020