StatoilHydro sees Ormen Lange full capacity end-09

OSLO, May 13 (Reuters) - Norwegian energy group StatoilHydro expects its big Ormen Lange gas field to be ramped up to full capacity by the end of 2009 or early 2010, the company's chief financial officer said on Tuesday.

The group now has three wells in production at the Ormen Lange gas field, and expects to bring two more on stream in the second half of this year, Chief Financial Officer Eldar Saetre said in a presentation of the group's first-quarter results.

"And we expect full capacity to be in place at the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010," he said.

The company's first-quarter gas sales were above expectation, but that has no impact on full-year 2008 guidance, Saetre said.

"The (first quarter) offtake has been good but it doesn't tell us anything for the year as a whole," Saetre said.

(Reporting by Wojciech Moskwa)