Angola LNG production halted

Angola LNG has suspended production at its 5.2 million tons per year liquefaction plant in Soyo as it is conducting a planned shutdown for a “minor intervention”, an Angola LNG spokeswoman confirmed to LNG World News on Monday.

Production of the chilled fuel is expected to resume during the month of November, the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

To remind, the $10 billion Angola LNG project, led by U.S. energy giant Chevron, restarted operations in May this year after it was closed for more than two years due to a major rupture on a flare line that occurred in April 2014.

The facility was shut down again in July this year as part of the restart and commissioning programme and came back online in September.

Since the May restart, the Angola LNG project shipped 8 cargoes of LNG and 16 LPG cargoes, Chevron chief financial officer Pat Yarrington told analysts on Friday after the company announced its third-quarter results.

According to Yarrington, the plant reached a rate of approximately 5 mtpa of LNG prior to the latest shutdown.

“Short duration shutdowns are often experienced as facilities are ramped up to their full capacity. ALNG expects to restart the plant within the next couple of weeks and will continue to ramp up and fine-tune the system,” she added.

Angola LNG is a joint venture between Sonangol (22.8%), Chevron (36.4%), BP (13.6%), Eni (13.6%), and Total (13.6%).

LNG World News Staff