美国液化天然气贸易前景不容乐观

据9月1日Center on Global Energy Policy报道，新冠肺炎疫情及其对燃料包括液化天然气需求的破坏性影响，使石油和天然气行业举步维艰。美国液化天然气出口量从1月的80亿立方英尺/天的纪录高位降至7月的31亿立方英尺/天，促使一些新项目推迟最终投资决定。

其中包括由美国液化天然气先驱查里夫·苏基（Charif Souki）于2016年创立的总部位于休斯敦的泰瑞安（Tellurian）公司。

在谈到今年液化天然气贸易下滑以及经济复苏的前景时，查里夫承认他对一些行业进展感到惊讶。还谈到了液化天然气贸易的根本变化，特别是涉及到目前大宗商品的定价方式，以及天然气因温室气体排放而受到更严格审查等方面。

Tellurian在路易斯安那州查尔斯湖(Lake Charles)附近的Driftwood液化天然气项目将耗资270多亿美元，其中包括将天然气输送到出口设施的管道建设。该项目拥有开工建设所需的所有许可，但鉴于今年市场动荡，Tellurian将最终投资决定推迟到2021年。

王佳晶 摘译自 Center on Global Energy Policy

原文如下：

What's Ahead for U.S. LNG Trade?

The oil and natural gas sectors have been reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on demand for fuels, and that includes liquefied natural gas. U.S. LNG exports fell from a record high of 8 billion cubic feet a day in January to 3.1 BCF a day in July, prompting some new projects to postpone final investment decisions.

Among them was Tellurian, a Houston-based company co-founded in 2016 by a U.S. LNG pioneer, Charif Souki.

Bill and Charif talked about the circumstances leading to the decline in LNG trade this year and the outlook for a recovery. Interestingly, Charif acknowledged that he’s been surprised by some developments.

They also touched on the fundamental changes in LNG trade, especially involving how the commodity is priced now, as well as on the implications for LNG of the closer scrutiny that natural gas is getting because of its greenhouse gas emissions.

Tellurian’s proposed Driftwood LNG project near Lake Charles, Louisiana, would cost more than $27 billion, including pipelines to deliver natural gas to the export facility. The project has all the required permitting to begin construction, but Tellurian has put off a final investment decision until 2021 in light of the market turmoil this year.