- The government of Tanzania announced yesterday that construction works on the long-delayed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project shall commence in 2022.
- They plan to conclude talks with a group of foreign oil and gas companies led by Norway’s Equinor on developing the LNG terminal.
- The Equinor consortium includes Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Ophir Energy and Pavilion Energy.
- The project is estimated to cost US 30 Billion.
“We instructed the government negotiation team to hold separate talks with each individual investor, instead of the previous arrangement of holding joint talks with all the investors. We expect these talks to be completed within seven months,” said Tanzania’s Energy Minister Medard Kalemani in a press statement.
The construction of Tanzania’s LNG project has been delayed due to regulatory issues for a number of years. The LNG export terminal will be built near huge offshore natural gas discoveries in deep water south of the country. The project will have capacity to produce 10 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas.
The plant would be located on approximately 2000 hectares in Likong’o Village in the town of Lindi approximately 460 kilometres south of Dar es Salaam. According to the country’s central bank, work on the project will add another two percentage points to annual economic growth, which currently stands at around 7%. It is estimated that Tanzania has recoverable reserves of more than 57.54tcf (trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, some of which is diverted for power generation and manufacturing facilities.
The country plans to build a fertiliser factory in 2021, which expected to be operational in 2024. The factory, which will be a joint venture between Tanzania, Forrestal Industrial Projects of Germany, Danish industrial catalysts producer Haldor Topsoe and Pakistan’s Fauji Fertilizer Company, is estimated to cost over $1.9bn.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
