Following the coronavirus situation, two of the biggest European energy companies denied a Chinese force majeure upon the LNG deals. Specifically, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA did not accept the legal grounds of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) decision.
In fact, several days ago CNOOC has reportedly announced to cancel the scheduled LNG deliveries, from at least three suppliers, since the coronavirus spread created several constrains.
According to Bloomberg, the Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA rejected this decision, while will probably seek repayment from the Chinese company.
With CNOOC likely to cancel the operations and struggling to take delivery of LNG, Total SA confirmed that received one force majeure notification, which did not accepted, following legal analysis.
Nalemy, Philippe Sauquet, head of Total’s gas, renewables and power segment said to Bloomberg:“Of course we have to be careful, if there is a real quarantine in all unloading ports in China, we have a real case for force majeure. But for the time being, this is not the case. For me it is ordinary negotiation.”
Overall, apart from the LNG market, BIMCO recently announced that the coronavirus has also impacted the shipping markets and has negatively affected the freight rates.
