This is the sixth article in Quadrant Chambers’ series on legal aspects of force majeure and business disruption in the light of the Coronavirus and its fall-out.
2020 has witnessed a dramatic fall in energy prices as the world has adjusted its needs and demands in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Brent crude oil prices plummeted from around US$70 per barrel at the start of the year to an 18-year low of US$22 by the end of the first quarter of 2020, while the JCC price has almost halved during the same period. This week, US crude oil future deliveries for May commanded negative prices for the first time in history. Meanwhile, European hub prices for natural gas and prices of liquified natural gas for delivery to Asia (“Asian LNG”) have fallen to all-time lows.
Simon Rainey QC and Gaurav Sharma consider the implications of the current market dynamics on long term Asian LNG supply contracts and the issues that are likely to arise in price review negotiations.
