Total and the government infront of the French judiciary to resolve a legal dispute that impeded the export of gas
English - Sunday 08 August 2021 الساعة 09:02 am
Aden, NewsYemen, special:
A source in the Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas Company revealed that the liquefied natural gas project in Balhaf in Shabwa governorate has been suspended due to legal disputes between the Yemeni government and the French Total.
The source told NewsYemen that the dispute between the government and Total is about the quantities of gas signed in the contracts, the amount of gas that exits from the Safer Marib fields through pipelines, and the quantities of gas after being compressed and liquefied, which are pumped from the pipelines of the Balhaf station to the ships.
The source confirmed that the Yemeni government adheres to its position that the amount of gas approved in the contracts is what is pumped from the Safer fields to the pipeline by gas pumping meters from the Ma’rib fields, and not what is pumped from the liquefaction station to ships by the export counters of the liquefaction station in Balhaf after liquefaction, which is rejected by the French company. .
He added that the French company Total says that the quantities of gas decrease in the export port when it is treated by removing water, oils and heavy gases, and the quantities of gas decrease due to freezing and turning it into a liquid form.
The source confirmed the failure of the amicable solution between the Yemeni government and the French company Total, and the two parties went to the French judiciary to resolve the dispute, according to the contents of the contracts.
The LNG project in Balhaf aims to produce approximately 6.7 million metric tons per year of LNG, starting with pushing it through the main pipelines from Marib to Balhaf.
Yemen began exporting liquefied gas from the port of Balhaf in November 2009, and the French company Total owns a 39.62% stake, and the rest of the project’s ownership is distributed to the Hunt Company, the Korean companies (SK - Hyundai - Kogas) and the Yemeni partner represented by the Yemen Gas Company, and the Authority General Insurance and Pensions.
The liquefied natural gas project is the largest Yemeni investment project, its cost exceeded 4 billion dollars, and government revenues from the project amounted to 750 million dollars in 2014.
In March 2015, Total declared force majeure at the export port and stopped all production at the plant due to the deteriorating security situation, and stopped paying loans that were scheduled to be repaid until the end of 2018.
The Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas Company exported during 2019 shipments of gas to provide the wages of workers maintaining the station.
