Two sources told Reuters that the Saudi National Shipping Company (Bahri), the shipping arm of Saudi Aramco, has suspended its plans to lease tankers for liquefied natural gas, after "Sembra Energy" postponed its decision to proceed with a project to export liquefied gas in Texas.

Last year, the company expressed interest in chartering up to 12 ships as of 2025 in the first entry of Saudi Aramco to the LNG sector, as part of the company’s plan to become a major global player in the gas market.

In May of last year, Aramco signed a twenty-year agreement to purchase liquefied gas from the Port Arthur Export Port of Simpra Energy, and agreed to purchase a 25% stake in the first phase of the multi-billion-dollar project.

But Simbra said this month it was delaying its decision on whether to go ahead with the project until 2021 following a drop in global energy demand due to the Corona virus pandemic.

"The shipping requirements were directed to Port Arthur, so given the delay and also the current market, it makes sense to suspend shipping," one source told Reuters.

Another source in the sector stated that the low prices of LNG to low levels since the start of the Corona virus may make financing more difficult, and that Aramco may increase its caution about investments in gas in the future.

The state-owned Saudi company had said it was developing its gas resources and was looking for assets in the United States, Russia, Australia and Africa.