Exxon Mobil has signed a preliminary deal to supply liquefied natural gas to South Africa’s Zululand Energy Terminal, which will be the country’s first LNG import facility once built, the companies said on Wednesday.
* The planned terminal is part of South Africa’s pivot away from coal-fired power generation, which accounts for the bulk of the country’s electricity supply.
* Reuters reported in March that the Zululand Energy Terminal (ZET) hoped to strike a deal with Exxon Mobil on LNG supplies in the coming months.
* The participation of Exxon Mobil helps reinforce the importance of Richards Bay port, where ZET is being built on South Africa’s east coast, as an entry point for LNG and supports plans to unlock a “competitive and sustainable gas market”, said Oliver Naidu, ZET director.
* Exxon Mobil has identified South Africa as a priority market and wants to grow its LNG supply to more than 40 million metric tons per annum by 2030.
* “This agreement reflects Exxon Mobil’s global LNG experience and our commitment to support South Africa’s energy security with reliable supply,” said Andrew Barry, chairman of ExxonMobil LNG Market Development Inc.
* Earlier this month South African state power utility Eskom signed a long-term LNG agreement with ZET that will support a planned 3,000 megawatt gas-to-power plant project.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf in Cape Town and Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Alexander Winning)