- State-owned Equinor ASA of Norway is writing off its $982 million liquefied natural gas project in Tanzania (TLNG), as overall economics have not improved sufficiently to justify keeping it on the balance sheet.
- This will be reflected in adjusted earnings for EPI division in fourth quarter 2020 results.
“Equinor will continue to engage Tanzania in negotiations on commercial, fiscal and legal frameworks that may provide a viable business case for TLNG in future,” said the firm’s senior vice president forinvestor relations Peter Hutton.
Equinor, formerly Statoil, has declared impairment of TLNG as a result of Tanzania delaying to approve the building of an onshore gas processing plant and export facility to enable commercial production for exploration firms to monetise the discovery.
“The TLNG project has an anticipated break-even price well above portfolio average for Equinor and is at this time not competitive within this portfolio,” said Mr Hutton in a briefing note issued the firm’s shareholders.
Impairment will be reversed if the firm successfully negotiates with Tanzania to make the project economically viable.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
