Tariff

Facing protests from shippers, Plains All American Pipeline LP has decided to remove a capital surcharge on its Cactus II crude oil pipeline from the Permian Basin, which it had originally proposed to offset costs associated with U.S. tariffs on imported steel.

China announced on Friday it plans to impose tariffs beginning Sept. 1 on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods, including domestic oil, in response to rising taxes set to be imposed by the Trump administration.

ConocoPhillips Co. and Encana Marketing (USA) Inc. are challenging Plains All American’s plans to implement a surcharge on its Cactus II crude oil pipeline, a 5.0-cent/bbl fee designed to offset costs related to U.S. tariffs on steel imports.

Faced with higher costs because of U.S. tariffs on imported steel needed for its pipeline buildout, Plains All American LP is moving forward with a surcharge to make up the difference as it seeks an exemption from the Department of Commerce, according to management.

As the international natural gas trade continues to develop, Asian economies will drive global demand growth over the next five years, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The United States on Friday agreed to lift steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on North American trading partners Canada and Mexico, removing one major impediment to enacting the Trump administration’s proposed United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA).

President Trump’s decision to reopen parts of the federal government for three weeks may portend a hard line in the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade war, an issue that the oil and gas industry has been watching with increasing alarm, according to analysts.

China imported only two of the 69 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes sent from the United States in the fourth quarter of 2018, a dramatic fall from the 14 U.S. cargoes it imported a year earlier after a trade war erupted last fall, according to Genscape Inc.’s proprietary monitoring data.

American Petroleum Institute (API) CEO Mike Sommers said the partial shutdown of the federal government, which reached its 18th day on Tuesday, hasn’t had a major impact on the oil and gas industry to date, but he warned that could change should the impasse continue.