We have derived abundances in three intermediate‐velocity clouds towards SN1987A, using high‐resolution data from the IUE. For the 70 km s−1 cloud, abundances are close to their solar values and a galactic halo origin is proposed for the cloud. The two other features, at 129 and 171 km s−1, have mean abundances of −0.59±0.15 dex and −0.46±0.15 dex relative to solar values and are similar to LMC abundances derived from ionized gas. Taken along with other evidence, we argue that the features arise in gas associated with the LMC and not our Galaxy.