OSLO, June 4 (Reuters) - Angola's long-delayed liquefiednatural gas (LNG) plant has finally started production and thefirst cargo is due to be exported later this month, a seniorTotal executive said.
"We have LNG flowing into the tanks at our Angola LNG plant,and we expect the first cargo in June," Philippe Sauquet, CEO ofTotal Gas and Power told Reuters on the sidelines of a gasconference in Oslo.
The plant, beset by 18-month delays caused by technicalfailures, suffered a setback in April after a fire occurred atthe plant just hours before production was due to begin.
The first shipment from the project has already been soldand is expected to be delivered by state-run Sonangol to eitherBrazil or Portugal, according to one trade source.
The Sonangol Sambizanga, which is due to make the delivery,is currently moored at Angola's LNG production facility in Soyo.
"Angola will produce the first and probably a second cargobefore a shutdown for routine inspection," another trade sourcesaid.
"Official start is due to be early to mid-August," he added.
US oil major Chevron operates the project with a 36.4percent shareholding, while Sonangol has a 22.8 percent stake.Other Angola LNG stakeholders include Total, BP and ENI with 13.6 percent each.