Angola LNG is considering expansion as gas supply increases

Angola Liquefied Natural Gas is looking at future expansion options, including adding a three-million-metric ton mini train, as gas supplies ramp up in the plant over the next year.

The plant will reach full capacity by 2025, thanks to extra supplies from Chevron and the New Gas Consortium.

Africa's second largest crude producer is planning to shift more towards natural gases to capture the growing demand on key markets in Europe, Asia and Africa.

Angola's LNG plant was built at a cost $12 billion more than 10 years ago. It has run below its capacity nameplate for many years due to the decline in gas production at the mature fields that supply the facility.

Officials from the government said that current supply is around 700 million standard cubic foot per day (scf), which is 70% of operational capacity.

New Gas Consortium is a project run by Azule Energy, a partnership between BP & Eni, that will begin production six months sooner than originally planned.

He said that the additional supplies from the project would allow ALNG's full capacity to be achieved.

Mongini said that "Angola LNG has already thought about this expansion. It could be a mini-train or an additional train. There are several ways to go about it."

Angola LNG is designed to run a single train averaging 5.2 million tonnes per year.

Billy Lacobie said that Chevron Southern Africa's managing director, Chevron, supports efforts to maximize LNG exports and to support the domestic market.

An ALNG spokesperson said that Chevron’s Sanha Lean Gas Connection would increase ALNG usage and supply gas over 15 years, by filling up about 40% of the facility from the end 2024.

Angola recently published a 25-year master plan for gas development. It stated that there are more than 40 discovered gas fields in the country, and an additional 56 tcf as prospective resources. (Reporting and editing by David Goodman.)

(source: Reuters)