Specialist
Former Associate at Brehon Advisory
Agenda
- Impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic on the oil and gas supply chain
- International guidelines and potential interruption to trade
- Countries likely have the most impacts of coronavirus
- 2020 outlook
Questions
1.
Is it up to individual countries or ports to close points of entry if they suspect crews to be infected in the novel coronavirus pandemic?
2.
How would countries that rely on seaborne crude oil or refined products source their supplies if incoming ships were banned?
3.
In the US we have the Loop [Louisiana Offshore Oil Port]. Do you think the US could force more crude imports? Is that a safer way?
4.
Are there other facilities around the world that you can point to that are similar to Loop?
5.
Is there any certification process on export for an oil or gas cargo, that would certify that crew members are not at risk? You talked about free pratique, but how does that work upon export?
6.
The ship’s master is required to deliver this Maritime Declaration of Health. What is the penalty? Is it barred entry, or as you said, if somebody was on board and they did not admit to that, is there a penalty?
7.
Has the potential for testing at the dock ahead of time ever been done before? Are there cases in maritime history?
8.
In the current environment, do you think countries are discriminating against crude and refined products, or LNG [liquefied natural gas] from certain countries as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?
9.
Can you give us any historical cases in the energy shipping industry where vessels were barred from docking at a port due to any kind of infection?
10.
Are there guidelines from any of the international organisations on how things should be handled, or are these just bilateral policies that Kuwait and Venezuela are putting in place?
11.
Are ports generally regulated at the local level, the state level or the national level, or even managed? We have governors of states giving some regulations, and the federal government has other ideas. Can it matter with ports? Are every country’s ports done nationally or are there any local issues that we should be aware of?
12.
What do you think is more likely impacted, oil and refined products or the LNG market?
13.
Do you think governments are looking to stockpile fuels, or release strategic reserves? What would trigger it, if shipping of oil and natural gas go down?
14.
Do you think vessels could discharge their oil and gas cargo and then have the vessels and crew quarantined, or do you think that is still too much risk of the coronavirus spreading?
15.
If the master of the ship radioed ahead and there was a problem, or there was the suspicion of something with a vessel and it was barred from discharging oil or refined products or LNG at a country’s port, who bears that cost of a ship sitting there?
16.
Do you think the impact of the restrictions will be harsher on producing or exporting countries or the consuming and importing countries?
17.
What do you think the best strategy is for oil and gas companies to get in front of the impacts of the restrictions, whether it is today or in the future?
18.
Do you expect any consumers of oil and natural gas to accelerate imports to get ahead of any potential closures? Or are inventories rising naturally because there is no demand?
19.
When did you arrive at that opinion that these lockdowns will last 2-3 months? Were you of that opinion from the beginning, or did you recognise something that indicated that?
20.
Do tankers ever undergo extensive cleanings the way aircraft do? Could that help ease fears? Does it vary by region?
21.
Is there anything we should be aware of related to the maritime industry in the coming weeks and months?
