QatarEnergy is preparing to extend force majeure on LNG shipments through mid-October, with customers in Europe and Asia expecting formal notices, according to Bloomberg. The extension had not been publicly confirmed by QatarEnergy.
A mid-October deadline would push the disruption beyond the delivery period previously disclosed by Italian utility Edison, one of QatarEnergy’s long-term European customers. Edison said on 30 June that QatarEnergy had notified it that four additional LNG cargoes scheduled for delivery to Italy’s Adriatic LNG terminal would not arrive by early September.
The notification raised the number of Edison cargoes covered by force majeure to 21 between April and early September, representing about 2.7bn cubic metres of natural gas. Edison had replaced 14 of those cargoes by 30 June, equivalent to about 1.3bn cubic metres, and said it remained able to secure alternative supplies and meet its commercial commitments.
The Italian company has a 25-year contract with QatarEnergy covering 6.4bn cubic metres of gas per year. The agreement has been in force since 2009.
The planned extension comes as maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted. Qatar accounts for about 20% of global LNG exports, all of which pass through the strait.
QatarEnergy is Qatar’s state-owned national energy corporation, with activities spanning exploration, production, processing, refining, trading and energy delivery. QatarEnergy LNG is a QatarEnergy subsidiary operating 14 liquefaction trains with combined production capacity of 77m tonnes per year.
Edison is an Italian energy utility with operations in electricity generation, gas supply, energy services and LNG procurement.