(Business in Cameroon) - The French company, Perenco, Cameroon’s oil production leader through its local subsidiary, proposed and obtained the approval of Société nationale des hydrocarbures (SNH) and its GDF-Suez partner to set-up a floating natural gas liquefaction plant off the coast of the touristic town of Kribi.

This was revealed on September 30, 2014 in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, during a send-off ceremony held by the SNH Denis Clerc-Renaud, Perenco Cameroon’s Managing Director who was recently re-assigned to Gabon.

With an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonns of liquefied natural gas, the floating plant “will help anticipate liquefied natural gas production in Cameroon starting in 2017,” while awaiting the completion of the plant construction project being led by the SNH and the GDF Suez.

According to our sources, this liquefied natural gas will be associated with domestic gas production, for around 30,000 tonnes per annum. This will bring total domestic production to 45,000 tonnes (as Sonara only produces 15,000 metric tonnes) while demand often reaches 80,000 metric tonnes, according to the Hydrocarbon Fuel Price Stabilisation Fund (CSPH).