Friday June 28, 2019
1. Africa the new hot spot for LNG
- Greenfield investment in LNG could hit a record high this year, and Africa will surprisingly lead the way.
- Investment will top $103 billion this year, according to Rystad Energy, and Mozambique stands out as a hot spot. “Last week’s final investment decision by Anadarko for its Area 1 LNG project marks the beginning of a new phase for not only Mozambique and the African continent, but for the industry as a whole,” Pranav Joshi, analyst on Rystad Energy’s Upstream team, said in a June 27 statement.
- Anadarko’s project could see more than $15 billion in investment, on par with some of the largest LNG investments worldwide.
- At the same time, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is expected to give the go-ahead for another LNG export project in Mozambique later this year, perhaps adding another $14.7 billion in investment.
- Taken together, Mozambique is about to leap into an exclusive category of major LNG exporters.
2. U.S. becomes net oil exporter
- The U.S. exported a record high 3.8 million barrels per day last week, pushing the total trade balance into positive territory.
- “Because net exports of refined products were higher than net crude oil imports, the US was also a net oil exporter last week,” Commerzbank said in a note. “Thus US President Trump’s latest remark that the US is not really reliant on…
