Total wins LNG bid in Côte d’Ivoire

France’s Total announced on Thursday that it had formalised a consortium to build an LNG import terminal in Côte d’Ivoire together with five other companies including the country’s state oil company.

Total will own 34% of the new company, CI-GNL (Côte d’Ivoire LNG), while Azerbaijan’s SOCAR will own 26%, followed by Shell with 13%, PetroCI with 11%, Golar with 6% and Endeavor Energy and CI Energies with 5% each.

“This project illustrates Total’s strategy to develop new gas markets by unlocking access to LNG for fast-growing economies,” senior Total executive Philippe Sauquet said in a statement. “We are very pleased to have been selected by the Ivorian authorities to manage this project, which will meet growing domestic and regional needs for gas and power.”

The terminal, expected to cost around USD 100 million and to become operational in 2018, will help address the country’s growing electricity demand, which is currently increasing by around 10% a year. It will feature a floating regasification and storage facility whose initial capacity of 2.83 mcm (100 mcf) would later be expanded to 11.3 mcm (400 mcf).

Côte d’Ivoire, which also exports electricity to its neighbours, is also hoping to significantly increase its own oil and gas production by tapping offshore reserves in the Gulf of Guinea, Reuters reported.