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Oman to export first LNG cargo on April 6

MUSCAT: Oman LNG, a $2.5 billion liquefied natural gas project in the Gulf Arab state, is expected to export its first cargo to South Korea in early April, a senior Oil Ministry official said on Sunday.

"The first shipment to Korea is dead on target which is expected to happen on April 6," the official told Reuters.

He said the construction of the plant was complete and the start-up of the second liquefaction train was expected to take place a month ahead of schedule in the first week of April.

Oman LNG had said in December the first of the two trains was finished.

Oman LNG, which is 51 percent state-owned, has a 25-year contract to sell 4.1 million tonnes a year of LNG to Korea Gas Corp 36460.KS. It also has supply contracts with Japanese and U.S. firms.

The private shareholders in the Omanii gas firm are Total TOTF.PA, Korean LNG Co, Partex, Mitsubishi Corp 8058, Mitsui Co 8031 and Itochu Corp 9001.

Oman, a medium-sized oil producer, is looking towards its gas industry to diversify its economy from oil revenues which make up about 65 percent of state income.

The daily Gulf News in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday quoted Oman's Oil Minister Mohammad bin Hamad al-Rumhy as saying in Muscat that a Korean ship was due to arrive in the sultanate within days to load the cargo of 135,000 cubic metres of LNG.

"The tanks are full of liquid gas, waiting to be offloaded," he said.-Reuters