Energy giant Shell is continuing to push towards the development of Tanzania’s stalled LNG export project which includes sending the country’s offshore gas resources to a liquefaction plant in Lindi.
Shell’s chief executive Ben van Beurden held a virtual bilateral meeting on Monday with Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, according to a statement by the president’s office.
The statement said that van Beurden “thanked President Samia for her efforts and determination in creating conducive investment environment for the LNG project in Tanzania.”
On the other side, President Samia thanked the Shell chief for the interest to invest in the LNG project saying that the development would boost the country’s economic growth.
The statement did not reveal any additional information.
Shell and Equinor working on LNG export development
LNG Prime contacted Shell for a comment on the matter.
A Shell spokesperson confirmed that van Beurden and President Samia held a meeting to “discuss their shared interests in developing Tanzania’s energy sector.”
“The CEO expressed his appreciation of the President and the Government of Tanzania’s prioritisation of the LNG opportunity. He confirmed his strong support for continued collaboration with the government, along with the other investors including Equinor, to create the conditions for future investment,” the spokesperson said.
Shell and Equinor have earlier this year called on Tanzania to support the stalled LNG export project.
The move came just weeks after President Samia took office.
Equinor and Shell are both operators of large gas discoveries off the country’s coast.
The Norwegian firm has with partner ExxonMobil discovered more than 20 trillion cubic feet of gas in Block 2 offshore Tanzania. Also, Shell says it has about 16 Tcf of natural gas in Block 1 and 4.
Equinor also said in January it had decided to write down the book value of the Tanzania LNG project on the company’s balance sheet by $982 million. The firm started negotiations with the Tanzania government back in 2018 to set out the commercial and fiscal framework for the LNG project.
It previously said that the Block 2 gas would go to the liquefaction plant in Lindi with a potential capacity of 7.5 million tonnes per year. Equinor also said it had expected the cost to build such a project would reach about $20 billion.
