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First Look - Energy Transfer nears FID of Lake Charles LNG

Oil is trading lower and heading for a weekly decline
- Crude prices have extended losses this morning, with market participants focusing on recent Federal Reserve commentary, which has led to a stronger US dollar
- Donald Trump threatened tariffs against the EU unless they purchase more American energy products
US broadens sanctions on Iranian tankers (BBG)
- The US has sanctioned more vessels and companies it alleges are part of the Iranian oil trade to reduce Iran’s revenues
- US sanctions have somewhat disrupted the trade of Iranian oil to China, with more than 70 vessels added to the sanctions list since October
- Donald Trump’s pick for National Security Advisor recently said they would look to return to a maximum pressure policy on Iran

Natural gas prices surged yesterday to settle at $3.58, up 21c from Wednesday
- Friday morning trading was choppy but continued the trend of gas moving higher – Nymex briefly hit $3.70/MMbtu before 8:00 AM
- The rally into the weekend comes with little material change in the weather forecasts
  - The two-week forecast is nothing eye-popping, but it seems that traders may be covering short positions ahead of a weather pattern setup that could bring below-normal temperatures into the two-week window for early Jan.
Energy Transfer moves closer to FID of Lake Charles LNG (Hart Energy)
- Energy Transfer LP has signed a 20-year LNG sale and purchase agreement with Chevron for its Lake Charles LNG project, bringing it closer to a final investment decision
- Energy Transfer entered a 20-year LNG sale and purchase agreement with Chevron for 2 million tonnes per annum.
- The Lake Charles project is approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission since 2015
- Energy Transfer aims to capitalize on existing LNG infrastructure and its Trunkline pipeline system