Equatorial Guinea’s Oil Minister announced that Royal Dutch Shell and oil traders Gunvor and Vitol were shortlisted for an off-take agreement at the Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) export terminal, whose final decision is expected to be made by August, Reuters stated.

Fortuna FLNG is going to be the first deep-water floating liquefaction facility in Africa, with a production capacity of 2.2m tons/y and an estimated start-up in 2020, Rigzone informed.

Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, Gabriel Obiang Lima, said at a press conference early June in Cape Town, “Our criteria for selection [of the preferred off-taker] are very simple, whoever gives more money.” Accordingly, Lima added that “the ball is with the off-takers” and noted that the government has already had discussions with the companies.

In May, Ophir Energy, one of the firms interested in Fortuna, announced that it plans to borrow $1.2b from Chinese banks to fund the development of the FLNG export terminal.