The construction of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in Tanzania will kick off in 2022 according to the country’s Energy Minister Dr Medard Kalemani. The plant will be established in Ling’oko village, Lindi.
Speaking in Parliament last month during the announcement, Dr Kalemani said negotiations were ongoing with multinational firms interested in the project and that construction would kick start in 2022.
“We met the investors recently and everything is progressing well. […] What is happening now is that the multinational firms are competing among themselves regarding which one should lead the project execution. By 2022, actual construction will start,” he said as he responded to views the Parliamentary Budget Committee raised regarding a decline in natural gas exploration in the country and reports of some investors mulling over selling their stakes.
Partners in the project include the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), BG/Shell, Statoil, Ophir, and Pavilion.
ExxonMobil’s Intended Exit
The committee said the multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Texas ExxonMobil was considering selling its stake in the country’s natural gas industry.
According to the committee, this move would work against the government’s plan to establish an LNG plant in the country.
The corporation had early last month announced its intention to sell its stake in the vast undeveloped gas field in Tanzania to focus on an even larger project in Mozambique.
In 2017, the multinational purchased a 25 per cent stake in Mozambique’s offshore Area four development from Italian multinational oil and gas company Eni. Area four is one of the largest gas discoveries globally in recent years with an estimated 85 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas.
ExxonMobil holds 35 per cent stake in Tanzania’s deepwater Block 2 field and about 23 Tcf of gas out of the 55.08 Tcf proven reserves of gas in the country.
