Ivory Coast inks deal for Total-led LNG consortium
Oct 6, 2016: Ivory Coast has inked a deal to create a consortium headed by France’s Total to build a liquid natural gas (LNG) import terminal that could begin receiving gas shipments by mid-2018.
Ivory Coast has emerged from years of political turmoil to become one of Africa’s fastest growing economies and demand for electricity is increasing by 10 percent annually, according to the energy ministry.
“The arrival of LNG in Ivory Coast opens a new era in the production of electricity,” said Energy Minister AdamaToungara at the signing ceremony in Abidjan.
Ivory Coast, French-speaking West Africa’s largest economy, has the region’s most reliable power production sector and exports electricity to its neighbours. However, a lack of new domestic gas discoveries has raised concerns of a supply crunch.
The project aims to conceive, build and operate a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) with initial capacity of 100 million cubic feet that would gradually be brought up to 500 million cubic feet, according to an energy ministry statement.The ministry estimated the cost at $200 million.
Total would be the project’s operator. Other members of the consortium include Royal Dutch Shell, Houston-based Endeavor Energy, Ivory Coast state oil company Petroci, CI-Energies, Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and Golar LNG.
