Angola inaugurated on Thursday its first plant to process non-associated natural gas as the African oil producer looks to develop a standalone gas industry, too.
The plant, worth $4 billion, was inaugurated by Angola’s President João Lourenço in the presence of Minerals and Petroleum Minister Diamantino Azevedo.
The gas processing facility was built in the Soyo municipality by New Gas Consortium (NGC), which is a first for Angola as it targets to develop and produce non-associated gas located in the offshore gas fields. Historically, gas in Angola has been captured as a by-product of oil extraction, the so-called associated gas.
The plant will be operated by Azule Energy, which is a joint venture of BP and Eni.
NGC, for its part, is an incorporated joint venture of Azule Energy with Sonangol P&P, Chevron, and TotalEnergies. The non-associated gas of Phase 1 of the project will come from the Quiluma and Maboqueiro shallow waters field with additional potential of gas from Blocks 2, 3, and 15/14 areas.
The plant has the capacity to process 400 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscfd) and 20,000 barrels of condensate per day, and will supply gas to the Angola LNG plant, boosting domestic gas supply and Angola’s exports.
The new plant was completed six months ahead of schedule and its start-up turns a new page in Angola’s energy history, Minister Azevedo said at the inauguration.
Angola is betting big on natural gas developments as a short-term increase in oil production is not expected to last, despite the West African country leaving OPEC over capped production.
Companies operating in Angola have recently started up two oil projects, but they have also begun to target non-associated offshore gas plays, hoping that a massive gas resource could be waiting to be tapped.
Earlier this year, Azule Energy discovered a major natural gas reservoir offshore Angola in the first gas-targeting exploration well in the oil-producing country.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Rocket Attack Forces Shutdown of Gas Field in Kurdistan
- Indian Banks Eye Return to Russian Oil Trade
- Sanctions Snarl Lukoil—Baghdad Pays Up to Protect 480,000 bpd of Oil Production
