(Bloomberg) -- Ghana’s delayed liquefied natural gas import terminal is likely to be completed next year as talks continue with Shell Plc for supply of fuel to the project, an energy official said.

Tema LNG Terminal Co.’s project was first expected to become operational as early as 2020. An official at the state-run Ghana National Petroleum Corp. then said completion was due this year, with plans for GNPC to sell the fuel onward to consumers across West Africa.

“Within the next year or so it should be fully complete,” GNPC Chief Executive Officer Opoku-Ahweneeh Danquah said on the sidelines of a conference in Cape Town. “We are in talks with Shell and we’re going to use that LNG as a key, critical component for the country’s energy security.”

Tema LNG, whose operator is backed by Helios Investment Partners and African Infrastructure Investment Managers, is a central part of Ghana’s plans to become a gas hub. Some West African nations are embracing the use of gas as part of an effort to bring electricity to more people.

Helios and African Infrastructure Investment Managers declined to comment on when the project could start. Shell didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. 

Tema has a 17-year agreement with Shell for the European company to process imported LNG in the project and sell the fuel to GNPC, according to African Infrastructure Investment Managers. 

Ghana mainly plans to use gas for power generation, but it is also go to other industries such as petrochemicals and cement, according to Ben Asante, chief executive officer of Ghana National Gas Co. There’s no immediate demand for gas from the Tema terminal, GNPC’s Danquah said.

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