07-01-03 To double capacity of Egyptian gas plant, Britain's BG says an “early works programme” started for the second liquefaction train due to come on stream in mid-2006. Britain's BG announced plans to double the capacity of a gas liquefaction plant under construction in Egypt after European and US clients expressed interest in buying the additional output.
BG, a lead shareholder of the Egyptian LNG (ELNG) company, said an "early works programme" had started for a second liquefaction train so that it could come on stream in mid-2006, one year after the first train. "The $ 1.35 bn first train is designed to produce 3.6 mm tpy of LNG. The second train, expected to cost approximately $ 550 mm, envisages doubling output," said BG.

The ELNG plant is being built at Idku, 50 km (31 miles) east of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Last year, ELNG finalised a 20-year contract to supply Gaz de France (GDF) with the total production of the first train.
"European and USA buyers have expressed strong interest in purchasing train two output," BG Executive Vice President Martin Houston said in the statement. He gave no further details, but Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy started a trip to France and Spain looking for more clients.
ELNG is one of two gas liquefaction ventures that seek to tap Egypt's increasing gas reserves. The other is a five-million-tpy plant under construction in the northern town of Damietta by Spain's Union Fenosa for deliveries to Spanish power generation plants to start in 2004.

Egypt's known natural gas reserves have steadily increased over the past 10 years, reaching 1.656 tcm (58.5 tcf) last October. Beside the two LNG plants, a regional pipeline is being built to supply Jordan, Syria and Lebanon with Egyptian gas. Deliveries to Jordan are due to start in May.
The partners in ELNG's second train are BG and Italy's Edison International, which have each a 38 % share. Two Egyptian state-owned companies -- EGPC and EGAS -- have 12 % each. In the first train, BG andEdison each hold a 35.5 % share, while EGPC and EGAS have each 12 % and GDF 5 %.