Hunton Participates in USEA’s US-Tanzania Utility Partnership Executive Exchange, Discusses LNG

Hunton & Williams and executives from Tanzania’s natural gas sector took part in a five-day executive exchange, sponsored by the US Energy Association’s  (USEA) US-Tanzania Utility Partnership. In addition to meeting with Hunton during the exchange, the four-member Tanzanian delegation engaged with US energy companies, utility exchange program organizations and government agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee of the Department of Energy. This was the second event in a series of planned exchanges and workshops to support the agencies and companies in Tanzania responsible for implementation, regulation, and oversight of gas exploration, production, transmission and distribution.

Hunton’s John Beardsworth and J.R. Smith met with the Tanzania delegation to discuss potential Liquefied Natural Gas opportunities, regional climate for LNG production, and the current demand in Tanzania. During their overview presentation of natural gas contracting, they discussed the key features of gas sales agreements and natural gas procurement issues associated with LNG development.

During the five-day exchange, the group took a trip to visit to Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG Terminal, located on over 1,000 acres of land along the Sabine Pass River on the border between Texas and Louisiana, in Cameron Parish, Louisiana at the widest point on the Sabine River Navigation Channel, only 3.7 nautical miles from the open water and 23 nautical miles from the outer buoy. The terminal can simultaneously load or unload LNG vessels from each berth in order to maximize the number of LNG vessels that can be received at the terminal each year.

Tanzania is one of the six initial focus countries of Power Africa, an initiative President Obama launched in the summer of 2013, which aims to double electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa by 2018. The initial investments in Tanzania’s transmission infrastructure, and the country’s goal of doubling electricity access from 15 percent in 2010 to 30 percent by 2015 have skyrocketed the country’s electricity policy.

For over 30 years, Hunton & Williams has responded to client needs throughout the African continent, pioneering techniques for African infrastructure finance and development, including energy, gas, oil and LNG matters, and has successfully supported clients on arbitration, litigation and other dispute resolution matters.

additional coverage

•  USAE press release Tanzanian Executives Examine Best Practices in LNG Policy and Management.