((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto)) by Wendell Roelf
Angola Liquefied Natural Gas (ALNG) is considering future expansion options, including the addition of a three million metric ton per year mini train, as new gas supplies to the plant increase over the next 12 months, energy executives told Reuters.
Expected additional deliveries from Chevron CVX.N by the end of the year and from the New Gas Consortium by the end of 2025 will allow the plant to reach full capacity for the first time.
Africa’s second-largest crude producer plans to shift its focus more toward natural gas to meet growing demand from key markets in Europe and Asia.
The Angola LNG plant, commissioned more than a decade ago at a cost of $12 billion, has been operating below its design capacity for years, due to declining gas production from mature fields which supply the installation.
Current supply averages 700 million standard cubic feet per day (scf), or 70% of operating capacity, government officials said.
New Gas Consortium, a gas project operated by the Azule Energy partnership between BP BP.L and Eni ENI.MI , is expected to start producing late next year, six months earlier than expected, said Adriano Mongini, director General of Azule.
The additional supplies from the project will allow ALNG to operate at full capacity, with more raw materials expected from Angola’s first gas-specific exploration well to be drilled early next year, he said on the sidelines of an African energy conference in Cape Town.
“Angola LNG is already thinking about this expansion, whether it’s a small train or an additional train, so there are many ways to do it,” Mr Mongini told Reuters.
Angola LNG, which includes Chevron, TotalEnergies
> and Sonangol as stakeholders, is designed for a single train of 5.2 million tonnes per year.
Managing director of Chevron’s Southern Africa business, Billy Lacobie, said he supported efforts to maximize LNG exports and support the domestic market.
Chevron’s Sanha Lean Gas Connection will increase ALNG’s utilization and provide gas for 15 years by filling about 40% of the plant starting in late 2024, an ALNG spokesperson said.
Angola’s recently released 25-year gas master plan outlined its ambition to develop more than 40 gas fields and said the country has 38 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of discovered gas and an additional 56 tcf prospective resources.
