Tanzania’s state oil company said it chose a U.S. law firm to handle negotiations with energy companies about a $30 billion liquefied natural gas project.
Regulations have held up the construction of an LNG export terminal near huge natural gas discoveries in deep water south of the East African country for years.
In November, negotiations resumed as President Samia Suluhu Hassan sought to speed up the project, which was stalled because Host Government Agreements had not been signed.
Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) announced on Twitter late Tuesday that it had signed a contract with Baker Botts’ London office to assist it in the negotiations.
TPDC did not provide more details about the agreement.
The Norwegian company Equinor operates Tanzania’s Block 2. ExxonMobil also owns a stake in the block, which is estimated to hold more than 20 trillion cubic feet (0.6 trillion cubic metres) of gas.
Equinor hopes to work with Shell, which operates Blocks 1 and 4 off Tanzania, estimated to contain 16 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.
