In Tanzania, President John Magufuli (photo) has instructed officials to fast-track works on a planned Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant as the execution of the project had been delayed for a long time.The president gave the directives during a meeting with Statoil's Tanzania country manager Oystein Michelsen, and senior Tanzanian government energy officials.

“I want to see this plant being built, we are taking too long. Sort out all the remaining issues so investors can start construction work immediately,” the president said in a statement.

He added that the project once completed would have an expected economic duration of over 40 years but did not disclose the construction plan for the project.

BG Group, which was recently bought by Shell, together with Statoil, Exxon Mobil and Ophir Energy, intend to construct a $30 billion onshore LNG export terminal in collaboration with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) by early 2020.The Tanzanian government acquired over 2,000 hectares of land to build the proposed two-train LNG terminal at Likong'o village in Lindi, south of Tanzania.

In February, the east African country discovered 2.17 trillion cubic feet of possible natural gas deposits, increasing the nation's overall estimated recoverable natural gas reserves to over 57 trillion cubic feet, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji