Fire damage delays Apache Van Gogh production -CEO

HOUSTON, May 7 (Reuters) - First oil production from Apache Corp's (APA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Van Gogh field off Western Australia may not come before 2010 because fire damage to a production vessel was greater than initially thought, the company's chief executive officer said on Thursday.

Apache previously said oil production from Van Gogh was expected to start by the end of the year, but now it may not come until the first quarter of 2010, Steve Farris, the chief executive officer of Apache told reporters after the oil and gas company's annual meeting.

"It's more extensive," Farris said about the fire damage to the Ningaloo Vision floating production, storage and offloading vessel at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore.

The April fire on the Ningaloo Vision damaged critical instrument rooms that house panels for process control, well control, power and emergency shutdown systems.

The vessel is owned and operated by Prosafe Production Public Ltd of Limassol, Cyprus, and will be leased by Apache when it is delivered to the Van Gogh field, some 33 miles (53 km) north-northwest of Exmouth, Western Australia.

The Ningaloo Vision will have processing capacity of 63,000 barrels of oil per day and storage capacity of 620,000 barrels.

Apache owns 52.5 percent of the field and Tokyo-based INPEXCorp (1605.T: Quote, Profile, Research) owns 47.5 percent. Apache expects the project to boost net production by 20,000 barrels per day. (Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)