Tanzania advances on $30-bln LNG project

Negotiations to build a USD 30-billion LNG export facility in Tanzania have been completed, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

According to Minister of Energy January Makamba, international energy giants Equinor, Shell and Ophir Energy have come to a consensus and contract preparations are underway.

Makamba also noted that more necessary steps are required, including negotiating joining blocks 1, 2 and 4.

Shell currently operates Block 1 and Block 4, which together hold estimated recoverable gas reserves of 453 bcm (16 tcf).

Equinor operates Block 2 along with its partner ExxonMobil. The concession is expected to hold 566 bcm (20 tcf) of gas reserves.

An FID on the LNG facility is expected in 2025.

The development will be located in Lindi on the southern coast of Tanzania next to large offshore gas finds.

Equinor, Shell, ExxonMobil, Ophir Energy and Pavilion Energy will partner to develop the complex.

“When completed, the project will change the country’s economic outlook, and unlock the economic growth and capture benefits from LNG exporting in the global market,” said Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

In June 2022, Equinor, Shell and Ophir Energy signed a host government agreement to construct the complex.