Chevron sees first gas from Aseng in 2028 as Equatorial Guinea seeks to stem output decline

By Wendell Roelf

CAPE TOWN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - US oil major Chevron CVX.N is on track to deliver the first gas from its offshore Aseng gas project in Equatorial Guinea in 2028, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.

Equatorial Guinea is aiming to bolster its dwindling gas production, which threatened its LNG exports.

• Chevron took a final investment decision on the $690 million project earlier this year and was "happy with its progress", Jim Swartz, managing director for Chevron Nigeria and the Mid-Africa region, told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Cape Town

• The company plans to bring in a drilling rig, likely early next year, to drill a development well at Aseng and complete a tie-back to existing infrastructure, Swartz said. "Probably the first gas that we expect is in 2028," he said

• The company is also considering data from other prospective Equatorial Guinea blocks, he said

• In February, Chevron renewed its commitment to develop the Yoyo-Yolanda gas project which contains an estimated 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and straddles the maritime border between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon

• Equatorial Guinea's hydrocarbons minister, Antonio Oburu Ondo, told Reuters the government was also in negotiations with TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and Qatar Energy on a couple of blocks

• Discussions with ConocoPhillips COP.N on developing the EG27 block, site of the discontinued Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project, are ongoing, he added