Angola LNG plant needs huge rebuild
ANGOLA’S liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant faces a lengthy closure and massive reconstruction work to fix design flaws and corrosion of its nearly-new equipment, which will add at least $12bn (£7.3bn) to the project’s cost.
US oil group Chevron, its biggest shareholder, accepted there were design problems with the project, which began production last year but shut down this April after a series of fires and mechanical troubles.
A consortium of investors, which apart from Chevron includes Angolan state energy firm Sonangol, BP, Total and Eni, contracted US engineering giant Bechtel to build the technically advanced plant on the Atlantic coast 300km north of the capital, Luanda.
Chevron chief executive John Watson told Reuters: “This is our responsibility… The partnership consortium chose the contractor. We’ve run into some design issues. We’re working to correct them.”