Angola LNG 'Restarts Production'

Doubts have been voiced whether Angola LNG will resume exports this month, but the venture has confirmed a restart of production at the facility – after a gap of more than two years.

Chevron CEO John Watson said on April 29 that “production from the Angola LNG plant is imminent and a cargo shipment is expected in May.” Chevron is the largest shareholder in the venture. Trade sources question whether a cargo this month is now feasible and this may still be the case. Reuters last week quoted one as saying that production would resume in late May, with the first cargo shipped in June.

However, Angola LNG on May 23 told Natural Gas Africa that production has resumed.

“Angola LNG does not provide a running commentary on the status of its activities,” a spokeswoman for the venture told NGA in an emailed statement: “But we can confirm that the re-commissioning of the Angola LNG plant is proceeding satisfactorily and in accordance with our commissioning and start up plans.

“We have started production and expect the first LNG cargoes to be available in the near future – they will be sold via a competitive tender process,” she noted.

Angola LNG, for which Bechtel did the engineering, opened in mid-2013 at a cost of some $10bn but shut soon afterwards for repairs to a series of technical faults. Then a rupture on its flare line forced a lengthy shutdown in April 2014. The venture has not said how much it cost to repair the plant, or if others will cover this cost. Bechtel has also been tight-lipped on the question of liability. The venture, which has LNG export capacity of 5.2mn metric tons/yr, is owned by Chevron 36.4%, state Sonangol 22.80%, BP 13.6%, Eni 13.6% and Total 13.6%.

Mark Smedley