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Yemen LNG expects first shipment in August

Reuters, Abu Dhabi: Wed, 27 May 2009

Yemen LNG expects to make the first shipment from its new gas liquefaction plant in August, the company’s chief executive Joel Fort said at an industry conference on Tuesday.

Earlier in May, Fort said he expected the first shipment to be made in July or August.

Fort said sporadic militant attacks in the poor Arab country did not cause great concern to his company which was more worried about piracy in the nearby Gulf of Aden.

“There are from time to time acts of terrorism … and we have never been targeted and have never felt the pressure, however on the port and sea we believe we are exposed,” he said.

“We have our own security team patrolling around the jetty but beyond that it’s the exclusive right of Yemeni state to provide security in territorial waters and they will do that,” he said.

“As long as security conditions in Gulf of Aden are not fully restored the plan is … (to) escort the ships up to the shipping lane.”

“I believe an LNG tanker is not the easiest target, it has a very high freeboard and it is very very fast,” he added.

Asked about secessionist attempts and unrest in Yemen, Fort said: “We believe overall there is a very strong sense of unity in the country we are not interfering with that obviously…”

“Our project is a very good example of the link between the north and the south, because the gas is in the north and the plant is in the south and in between we have the pipelines,” Fort concluded.

Three people were killed in clashes last Thursday (May 21) between Yemeni police and protesters marking the day when south Yemen’s leader declared a breakaway state 15 years ago. – Reuters