Kpler

Uncertainty continues to mount across the global natural gas market with key buyers from Europe to South Asia sidelined by measures to slow the coronavirus, raising questions about how suppliers across the world will respond to the possibility of an extended downturn in demand as inventories fill.

European natural gas storage inventories are at record highs as shoulder season nears, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) noted Tuesday, a factor that could eventually limit the continent’s ability to absorb liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports as it faces more immediate demand threats from the coronavirus.

In another sign of the impact on energy demand from the worldwide coronavirus, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday recommended that members reduce global crude output through the end of the year, with an additional adjustment through June.

In keeping with its record of bringing online liquefaction capacity ahead of time and on budget, Cheniere Energy Inc. said the third production unit at the Corpus Christi liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in South Texas is expected to achieve substantial completion in the first half of 2021, several months earlier than its original target.