12 June 2022
Tanzania has signed a framework agreement with Norway’s Equinor and Britain’s Shell that will bring them closer to starting construction on a $30bn project to export liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The deal announced on Saturday foresees a final investment decision by 2025, and a start of operations by 2029-2030 at a liquefied natural gas plant to be built in Tanzania’s southern coastal town of Lindi.
It marks a significant step forward in Tanzania’s efforts to jumpstart the export of part of the vast gas deposits off its coast, estimated at more than 57 trillion cubic feet (1,630 billion cubic metres).
Along with United States firm ExxonMobil, Equinor is exploiting a block, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the coast of Lindi, where it says it has found 20 trillion cubic feet (566 billion cubic metres) of natural gas.
Shell, together with Ophir Energy and Pavilion Energy, says it has discovered 16 trillion cubic feet (453 billion cubic metres) of gas in two other offshore blocks in the same area.
Tanzania’s economy suffered a blow during the coronavirus pandemic, as travel restrictions battered the tourism sector, a key earner in the East African country.
