30th Aug 2005 07:03
Total S.A.29 August 2005 YEMEN LNG DEVELOPMENT LAUNCHED Paris - August 29, 2005 - The government of Yemen has approved the developmentplan for the Yemen LNG liquefied natural gas project. The shareholders in YemenLNG, for which Total is the leader (42.9%), will build a liquefaction plant inthe port of Balhaf on the southern coast of Yemen, around 200 kilometers fromMukalla. The construction contracts will be awarded in the coming days. The plant will have two trains with a combined capacity of 6.7 million metrictons a year and will be supplied with gas from Block 18 located in the centralMarib region, around 180 kilometers east of Sana'a. The gas will be transportedto the plant by a 38-inch, 320-kilometer pipeline. Yemen LNG has signed three long-term (20 year) sale and purchase agreements forthe plant's output-one with Suez LNG Trading for 2.5 million metric tons a year,one with Kogas for 2 million metric tons a year and one with Total Gas & PowerLtd. for 2 million metric tons a year. The Yemen LNG liquefaction plant is scheduled for commissioning in late 2008. "Yemen LNG is part of Total's strategy of growing its LNG production by anaverage of 10% a year to 2010. The Group already has interests in sixliquefaction plants worldwide, including three in the Middle East. The newproject will strengthen Total's position as a leading LNG operator and producerin the Middle East," says Christophe de Margerie, President, Exploration &Production at Total. The Yemen LNG shareholders are the Yemeni government, represented by Yemen GasCompany (23.10%), Total (42.90%), Hunt Oil Company (18%) and South Korea's SKCorporation (10%) and Hyundai Corporation (6%). Under the agreements with Kogas,the utility will acquire a 6% interest in Yemen LNG in the near future. Total is the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world with operations in more than 130 countries. Total's activities cover the whole energy chain of the petroleum Industry: exploration, oil and gas production, refining and marketing, trading and power generation. The Group is also a major player in chemicals. Total has more than 111,000 employees worldwide. More Information can be found on the company's website: www.total.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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