Oil minister Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos has confirmed that Angola, already the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, will make its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Angola LNG project in Soyo in the northern province of Zaire in June.
Botelho de Vasconcelos, who was speaking at the opening of an International Conference on Oil and Gas here, said the beginning of loading was scheduled for this month and ends in June.
According to the minister, the Angola LNG Project will have a positive impact on the country's economic growth, with an estimated production of 5.2 million tonnes of LNG per year. The project will also provide butane gas for domestic use, making the country self-sufficient in cooking gas.
He said the economic impact would be further felt through the availability of a volume of 125 million cubic feet of natural gas per day for national energy company SONANGOL for the production of power for the petrochemical industry.
The opening of the Angolan energy sector to international companies after the country's independence in 1975 was crucial to the rapid development that the sector had recorded internally in recent years, he added.
The Angolan government, he said, had successfully opted for a policy to offer attractive conditions for foreign investors, providing them with principles of reciprocal interests and mutual benefits.
According to the minister, the use of high technology had made Angola a world-class oil producing country, a strategy which has as its basic premises the increase in oil and natural gas production, through geophysical studies which lead to the identification and evaluation of the potential.
He noted that the geophysical studies had led to the discovery of new exploration areas, and for this reason the efforts were being focussed on exploration of fields already identified.
The conference jointly sponsored by the Oil Ministry, the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) Fund and Africa & Middle East (AME) Trade is scheduled to end Wednesday.
Source: Bernama