Lindi set to be Tanzania Economic Hub Thanks to Gas Plant, Minister Indicates

The Lindi region is set to be Tanzania’s economic hub thanks to the planned construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.

This was recently announced by Prof. Sospeter Muhongo, Tanzania’s Minister of Energy and Minerals.

He further explained that the Government of Tanzania will invest USD30b in the construction of the plant, which will take up to 40 months.

The plant will be located in the southern town of Lindi close to the deep-sea offshore blocks where most of Tanzania’s gas discoveries have been made.

For this, the Government will have to build gas pipes from the sea to the plant with length of 100–200km, Muhongo said.

The plant will be constructed by international oil and gas companies Statoil, BG Group, ExxonMobil and Ophir Energy in partnership with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).

In the beginning of 2016, the Government of Tanzania acquired approximately 2,070 hectares land at the cost of USD6m in Lindi town for the construction of the LNG plant.

In addition, an area of 17,000 hectares next to the terminal destined area has been secured for the development of an industrial park.

The LNG terminal is expected to start production in 2021 or 2022. According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), the project will add 2% to the country’s GDP thanks to the large investments that it will attract.

Tanzania has the second largest natural gas reserves in East Africa with more than 55 trillion cubic feet (tcf) so far discovered and behind Mozambique with 100 tcf according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).