Posted on :Tuesday , 18th July 2017
Tanzania wants to develop its liquified natural gas (LNG) sector and a delegation from that country recently visited the National Gas Company (NGC) Limited for talks. The group expressed interest in promoting NGC, T&T’s service sector and academic institutions, if value could be created in Tanzania’s critical stages of development.
“Th Government Negotiating Team of Tanzania’s (GNT) visit centred around learning more about T&T’s oil and gas industry and was aimed at helping team acquire knowledge and experience which will help to modify and develop a better term sheet,” the company said in a statement
NGC president Mark Loquan and vice president Gas Transmission and Distribution, Ronald Adams presented to the GNT on NGC and NGC Group’s interest in LNG.
“Loquan noted that these study tours are important to NGC as they cemented NGC’s new strategy—transforming its business, growing along the value chain, moving into other jurisdictions and becoming a global player through strategic partnerships.”
In its effort to expand its LNG sector, the Government of Tanzania opened discussions with international oil companies (IOC) for negotiation of a host government agreement (HGA) on developing an LNG project.
“Discussions began in September 2016 and the Government of Tanzania constituted the GNT to meet with negotiating teams for the IOCs. To date, the IOCs and GNT have agreed to develop a term sheet separately in order to start negotiations which will develop the HGA.”
According to the statement the feedback from the Tanzania officials was enormous because “the GNT expressed great interest in the gas model used in T&T, issues with respect to development of the gas model, infrastructural development for gas distribution and other elements such as LNG production, royalties and fiscal terms which in T&T are set by the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries.”
The potential of Tanzania’s 53.2 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources has brought “intense competition” among global energy players. Tanzania’s economy has borne the brunt of slow-moving global economic growth and low commodity prices and its government is pushing for the development of the country’s unexploited offshore gas reserves.