SANA'A, Feb. 04 (Saba) - It is expected that the first shipment of Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is to be transported to the USA soon, the weekly 26 September said Thursday.

The shipment will be sent from Balhaf harbour of Shabwa province to Boston harbour, the USA late in current February.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh launched November 2009 the first shipment of gas to international markets in Asia, Korea and to the two Americas.

The project that has taken 15 years of constructions will generate USD 30-50 billions to Yemen in its age of 25 years.

The Yemen LNG project is the largest and most important investment ever made in Yemen with an investment of around US$ 4.5 billion.

It consists of supplying gas from Block 18, located in the Marib region in central Yemen , through a 320 kilometres dedicated pipeline to the LNG plant located at the port of Balhaf on the Arab Sea, south east of Yemen.

The project shareholders are TOTAL (Project Leader) (39.62%), Yemen Gas Company (16.73%), Hunt Oil Company (17.22%), SK Energy Co., Ltd. (9.55%), Korea Gas Corporation – KOGAS (6.00%), the General Authority for Social Security and Pensions of Yemen (5.00%) and Hyundai Corporation (5.88%)

AF/AF