EG LNG production down in first quarter

Market: Natural gas
07/05/14

LNG production at the 3.7mn t/yr Equatorial Guinea (EG) LNG export terminal was down slightly in the first quarter compared with the same period of last year.

US firm Marathon Oil, which has a 60pc equity stake in the terminal, sold an average of 6,579 t/d LNG, or around 592,110t, in the first quarter. For the entire plant, this equates to 986,850t compared with 1.018mn t in the first quarter of 2013.

If the plant were to keep producing at its current rate for the rest of the year it would exceed its production capacity, reaching 3.95mn t, or 106.76pc of its nameplate capacity. Last year, the plant produced 3.98mn t/yr — 107.57pc of its nameplate capacity.

Marathon Oil also said in its first-quarter results that a planned eight-day partial shutdown took place at the terminal during the quarter.

Other shareholders in the EG LNG terminal are state-owned natural gas company Sonagas (25pc) and Japanese trading firms Mitsui (8.5pc) and Marubeni (6.5pc).

UK firm BG receives 100pc of the offtake from the EG LNG terminal. Last week the company said that a planned shutdown at EG LNG in 2015 would reduce the number of cargoes produced relative to 2014. The exact date or duration of the shutdown has not been specified.

lb/cm/fn

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EG LNG production down in first quarter

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