Exxon Mobil is positioning South Africa as a priority market for liquefied natural gas (LNG), citing rising energy demand and opportunities for infrastructure development. The company says South Africa may require 6 to 7 gigawatts of new gas-fired power capacity to shift away from coal and support cleaner electricity.

To enable this, the US oil major has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dutch firm Royal Vopak to assess the feasibility of building LNG import and regasification facilities. In South Africa, Vopak and Transnet Pipelines were already selected to develop an LNG terminal at Richards Bay under a 25-year concession.

Exxon officials note that importing LNG could help address shrinking supply from Mozambique, whose pipeline has traditionally met much of South Africa’s gas needs.