據9月1日Center on Global Energy Policy報道，新冠肺炎疫情及其對燃料包括液化天然氣需求的破壞性影響，使石油和天然氣行業舉步維艱。美國液化天然氣出口量從1月的80億立方英尺/天的紀錄高位降至7月的31億立方英尺/天，促使一些新項目推遲最終投資決定。

其中包括由美國液化天然氣先驅查里夫·蘇基（Charif Souki）于2016年創立的總部位于休斯敦的泰瑞安（Tellurian）公司。

在談到今年液化天然氣貿易下滑以及經濟復蘇的前景時，查里夫承認他對一些行業進展感到驚訝。還談到了液化天然氣貿易的根本變化，特別是涉及到目前大宗商品的定價方式，以及天然氣因溫室氣體排放而受到更嚴格審查等方面。

Tellurian在路易斯安那州查爾斯湖(Lake Charles)附近的Driftwood液化天然氣項目將耗資270多億美元，其中包括將天然氣輸送到出口設施的管道建設。該項目擁有開工建設所需的所有許可，但鑒于今年市場動蕩，Tellurian將最終投資決定推遲到2021年。

王佳晶 摘譯自 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.