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CAPE TOWN, June 6 (Reuters) - Ghana expects to startimporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) early next year, theacting chief executive of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation(GNPC) said on Monday, adding that it was in discussion with arange of traders.
Alex Mould said GNPC is in the market for between 250million and 500 million standard cubic feet (SCF) of gas per dayto be used to help generate power in the West African country.
"GNPC will be buying the LNG from traders, mostly on ashort-term basis because there is an abundance of LNG. We aretalking to Qatargas, BP, Shell, Woodside, the usual suspects, toenter into some sort of agreement with them," Mould told Reutersat an oil and gas conference in Cape Town.
Two import terminal projects are planned in Ghana.
Norwegian shipping company Golar LNG has already supplied afloating terminal to the Atlantic coast port of Tema but sourcessaid there are logistical issues causing uncertainty over whenit will start up.
Imported LNG is to be regasified using a dedicated floatingstorage and regasification unit (FSRU) moored off shore.
"First gas imports are estimated at end of first quarter ofnext year," Mould said.
He said officials would be viewing the FSRU, built by SouthKorea's Samsung Heavy Industries, in September with "hook-up"plans already in place to help ensure ship-to-ship LNGtransfers.
The Ghanaian subsidiary of Quantum Pacific, the industrialinvestment group owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, alsoplans to install a second terminal at Tema.
That terminal was initially due to arrive at the end of2016, but now looks set to slip into 2017 or 2018 given it stillhas not secured access to a terminal, industry sources said. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; additional reporting by OlegVukmanovic; editing by Ed Stoddard and Jason Neely)
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