Angola LNG suspended production

abarrelfull wrote on 10 Jun 2014 11:31
Tags: africa angola chevron lng

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The liquefaction of natural gas from Angola LNG consortium announced the suspension of production for a year, due to a succession of technical problems, such as the sinking of a platform, fires and leaks, the latter of which a break in a cable.

In a press release that the Journal de Angola had access, the management of the plant says, "following the investigation into the accident at the plant April 10, 2014, the company decided to bring forward its stoppage already planned, so that Bechtel contractor can repair the damage the incident while solving problems concerning the production capacity of the unit.

The statement indicates that the management expects to resume production in mid-2015. The project, valued at ten billion dollars, has in recent months faced great difficulties in loading ships with liquefied natural gas.

Last April, the Angola LNG had established contacts to rent the entire fleet, a first indication that the unit Soyo would be paralyzed for a long time.

In June last year, the project met its first shipment of 160 thousand cubic meters of liquefied natural gas, which was transported to Brazil from Soyo aboard the tanker Sonangol Sambizanga and unloaded at the regasification terminal Petrobras in Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro.

At the time, the chairman of Angola LNG-Marketing, Artur Pereira said that "Angola LNG enters the market at a particularly interesting time." Alongside natural gas, said Autur Pareira, the company foresaw "the production of propane, butane and condensates by Angola LNG, as an important part of our operational and commercial activity. "

In addition to the infrastructure for the production and shipment of natural gas in manufacturing plants Soyo, Angola LNG also has storage tanks with a capacity of 88 000 m3 of propane, butane 59 000 m3 and 108 000 m3 of condensate, a marine terminal dedicated to shipping such products and a second terminal for cargo butane under pressure, which will supply the domestic market.

The Angola LNG company provides collection, processing and marketing as a year a quantity close to 5.2 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas.

With one of the most modern processing liquefied natural gas plants in the world, the Angola LNG is in itself one of the largest investments ever made in Angolan oil and gas industry, and is a partnership between Chevron groups, with 36 4 percent Sonangol 22.8 percent, the remainder being divided between the total BP and ENI.

• Angola LNG suspended production

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