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spate of cargo cancellations from US liquefaction US seizes Venezuelan gasoline
terminals over the summer, which are continu- The US government has stepped up its campaign
ing, but at a slower pace. to prevent Iran from selling petroleum products
Meanwhile, Asian spot LNG prices have to Venezuela.
risen to more than a six-month high over the On August 14, officials in Washington
past week. This has been attributed to factors confirmed that US forces had seized four
including the risk of a potential shutdown at the cargoes of Iranian gasoline en route to Ven-
Gorgon LNG terminal in Australia, as well as ezuela. Tehran responded by acknowledging
something of an uptick in demand, though not a that it had supplied the fuel but described it
particularly large one as yet. as Venezuelan property, saying that Caracas
The two regions’ LNG industries are closely had already paid its bill. Venezuela’s gov-
linked, with US producers seeking long-term ernment did not respond immediately to
buyers in Asia in particular. One US company reports of the seizure.
trying to secure a new Asian investment cur- The US action is sure to exacerbate the prob-
rently is Tellurian, which has been in the news lems of Venezuela’s oil industry. According to
for scaling back the scope of the first phase of its IHS Markit, the South American state shows no
proposed Driftwood LNG terminal on the US sign of reversing the decline in its crude output
Gulf Coast by deferring construction of some of and may see production drop from the current
the pipelines that would serve the facility. level of 100,000-200,000 bpd to near zero. As
The company had also recently renewed recently as 2019, Venezuelan yields still stood at
talks with India’s Petronet LNG over a tentative 650,000 bpd. However, US sanctions, deteriorat-
deal that would include an 18% equity stake in ing infrastructure and the fall in global energy
Driftwood, as well as the option for the Indian demand have wreaked havoc on the sector.
company to buy up to 5mn tonnes per year (tpy) Meanwhile, Venezuela’s National Assem-
from the facility. However, Indian media on bly, which is dominated by parties that oppose
August 16 cited sources familiar with the matter the socialist government led by President
as saying Petronet was considering scaling back Nicolas Maduro, has launched an investiga-
its proposed $2.5bn investment in Driftwood as tion of a recent oil spill off the coast of Falcón
a result of Tellurian’s overhaul of the project. state. MPs have requested information from
A further reminder of link between the LNG the national oil company (NOC) PdVSA and
industries in the US and Asia came last week other state-run institutions for details on the
when the SK Resolute LNG carrier made the incident, which appears to be related to main-
10,000th Neopanamax transit of the expanded tenance work at the El Palito refinery. Opposi-
Panama Canal since its opening in June 2016. tion legislators say the spill happened because
The expanded canal offers a shorter, and there- heavy rainfall caused the 146,000 bpd plant’s
fore more competitive route for LNG deliver- oxidation ponds to overflow.
ies from the US East and Gulf coasts to Asian In other news, Argentina’s YPF has
countries. reported that its financial and operational
performance suffered in the second quarter of
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping 2020 as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-
the global LNG sector then please click here for 19) pandemic. The state-owned firm said it
NewsBase’s GLNG Monitor. had incurred a loss of ARS85bn ($1.17bn) in

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