Chevron-Led Angola LNG Ships First Gas After 18-Month Delay

Chevron Corp.’s $10 billion Angola LNG plant shipped its first cargo today after an 18-month delay prompted by fires, labor shortages and U.S. shale drilling that erased demand for African fuel in the world’s largest gas market.

The shipment of gas that was cooled to -256 degrees Fahrenheit (-160 degrees Celsius) to shrink its volume was sold to state-owned Sonangol EP for transport to Brazil aboard the ship Sonangol Sambizanga, Artur Pereira, chief executive officer of Angola LNG Marketing, said in an e-mailed statement today. A “large number” of LNG sales from the plant have been signed or are in negotiation, the London-based company said.