Region: Africa, The Americas
US government shows appetite to develop industrial dialogue with Africa on LNG
LONDON, United Kingdom, 25 August 2019: With record-breaking US gas production this year, and the promotion of gas as a “cleaner, cheaper” energy source, a continued priority for the current White House, the US Department of Energy is now looking towards Africa to develop opportunities in the exploration, production and monetization of LNG, the organizers of Africa Oil Week said through a Press release. In the words of US Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, “Increased amounts of US LNG on the world market benefit the American economy, American workers and consumers and help make the air cleaner around the globe.”
According to the release, appetite for imported gas is growing steadily across the African continent. Just recently, the release said, South Africa announced plans to open its first LNG import terminal in 2024. Meanwhile, US gas production is skyrocketing, the release said. Currently at six billion cubic feet (bcf) per day, production is forecast to grow to 10 bcf by the end of 2020, the release revealed. This confluence of circumstance makes Africa a common-sense partner for the US, as it sets out to cement its position as an energy superpower, the release said.
As part of this mission, US Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Steven Winberg, will join 22 Pan-African ministers at the Africa Oil Week summit in Cape Town this November, the release said. He will use the event to share US energy policy points with the continent and outline a vision for deeper US commitment to Africa in the oil, gas and power sectors, the release said. This vision looks set to encompass increased two-way trade and investment between the United States and Africa, with the United States making potential capital available on joint-ventures and to part-finance LNG infrastructure for energy-lacking African countries, the release said.
The announcement of Secretary Winberg’s attendance to the summit comes alongside several major US private-sector investments into the African energy sector, the release said. ExxonMobil is making progress in Mozambique with its Rovuma LNG project in deepwater Area 4 block, which contains more than 85 trillion cubic feet of Natural Gas, the release said. Particularly notable, though, the release said, is Anadarko’s recent announcement of its Final Investment Decision (FID) to construct a USD 20 billion gas liquefaction and export terminal in Mozambique, the largest single LNG project approved in Africa.
