Reaching the final investment decision on Tanzania’s LNG export project will take at least five more years, according to Statoil’s Tanzania country manager Oystein Michelsen.

The company is  settling for the project to take a while, Michelsen told Reuters, adding that once the government is ready it would take another five years to reach the final investment decision.

On top of the five years required to reach the FID, Michelsen said that the construction would also take another five years.

The Tanzanian government is yet to set up a “stable framework” for the project, and there are remaining issues over local ownership requirements in some contracts.

John Magufuli, Tanzania’s president in August called on the state officials to expedite the development of a US$30 billion LNG project.

The total recoverable natural gas reserves are estimated at over 55 trillion cubic feet. The LNG project participants are Statoil, Tanzanian state-owned TPDC, Shell, ExxonMobil and Ophir Energy. (source: LNG World News Staff)