Tanzania has announced that its $30bn liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will break ground in 2022.
The construction of a plant and terminal to export gas from the country’s massive offshore deposits has been held up for years by regulatory delays.
The development will be carried by a consortium led by Equinor of Norway, along with Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Ophir Energy, Pavilion Energy and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.
They plan to build the plant near the town of Lindi (pictured), in the south of the country.
Medard Kalemani, Tanzania’s energy minister, said in a budget presentation to parliament: "Construction of this project is expected to start in 2022 and will be concluded in 2028. The project will have capacity to produce 10 million tonnes of LNG a year."
Tanzania’s central bank has said that just starting work on the plant would add another two percentage points to annual economic growth of around 7%.
The government is presently holding individual talks with the oil companies to agree a "host government agreement".
Kalemani added that construction of a $1.9bn fertiliser plant would also start in 2021 and would be operational in 2024.
Image: A street in Lindi, Tanzania (Vincent van Zeijst/CC BY-SA 3.0)
Further reading:
