Chevron sees first gas from Aseng in 2028 as Equatorial Guinea seeks to stem output decline (updated)
UPDATE 1-Chevron sees first gas from Aseng in 2028 as Equatorial Guinea seeks to stem output decline Recasts lead, adds byline, minister comments in last four paragraphs
By Wendell Roelf
CAPE TOWN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - US oil major Chevron CVX.N is on track to deliver the first gas from its offshore Aseng gas project in Equatorial Guinea in 2028, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.
Equatorial Guinea is aiming to bolster its dwindling gas production, which threatened its LNG exports.
Chevron took a final investment decision on the $690 million project earlier this year and was "happy with its progress", Jim Swartz, managing director for Chevron Nigeria and the Mid-Africa region, told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Cape Town
The company plans to bring in a drilling rig, likely early next year, to drill a development well at Aseng and complete a tie-back to existing infrastructure, Swartz said. "Probably the first gas that we expect is in 2028," he said
The company is also considering data from other prospective Equatorial Guinea blocks, he said
In February, Chevron renewed its commitment to develop the Yoyo-Yolanda gas project which contains an estimated 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and straddles the maritime border between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon
Equatorial Guinea's hydrocarbons minister, Antonio Oburu Ondo, told Reuters the government was also in negotiations with TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and Qatar Energy on a couple of blocks
Discussions with ConocoPhillips COP.N on developing the EG27 block, site of the discontinued Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project, are ongoing, he added
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by Sfundo Parakozov, Jason Neely and Jan Harvey)
((wendell.roelf@thomsonreuters.com; +27 21 461 3523;))