EQUATORIAL GUINEA MAY decide to build a US$2.2bn liquefied natural gas plant in 2012, according to Gabriel Obiang Lima, a vice minister of mines, industry and energy.
The unit would be the second in the African country, which has about 8.5tcf of natural gas reserves. The investment estimate also includes spending on pipeline infrastructure and hubs.
State-owned Sociedad Nacional de Gas, or Sonegas, together with Germany's E.ON, Portugal's Galp Energia SGPS and Spain's Union Fenosa, has been designing a plan to develop the local gas industry. The nation needs to ensure fuel supply for the domestic industry and to stop flaring most of which comes from the Zafira field.
“Priority number one is the Gas Master Plan, “Serapio Sima Ntutumu, a deputy general director at Sonegas, said at the recent Africa Energy Week conference held in Cape Town. The second priority is a gas distribution plan and third is expansion and diversification,” he said.
Equatorial Guinea LNG Holdings Ltd can expand by adding a second production uni and load its first cargo in 2016 or 2017, according to Marathon Oil's estimates made last year. Gas supplies from Nigeria and Cameroon may be required to make the unit commercially viable.
