LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Oil and gas explorer Ophir Energy expects to finalise sales agreements and make a finalinvestment decision on its Fortuna floating liquefied naturalgas (FLNG) project by mid-2016.
Ophir's chief operating officer Bill Higgs said the firm isin talks with six or seven buyers representing a mixture of endusers, oil majors and traders, and expects heads of agreementswill be signed by the end of the month.
Heads of agreements are preliminary contracts that can beconfirmed when full approvals are received and a finalinvestment decision (FID) made on a project.
"We move forwards to continue the negotiations with thatselected group with the aim of getting to a binding gas salesagreement with 1 to 2 of those buyers by FID in the middle ofnext year," Higgs said.
The Equatorial Guinea-based FLNG development is one of anumber of LNG projects planned when prices were higher. LNGprices have more than halved since the start of last year on aglut of supply.
Higgs said that he expected smaller projects such as Fortunawere more likely to gain a FID than larger projects given thechallenging market conditions.
The project is expected to produce 2.2 million tonnes of LNGper year, with first gas slated for 2019.
Higgs said that the duration of the initial sales contractswas likely to be for between seven and 12 years. (Reporting by Sarah McFarlane; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
