According to a Vopak senior executive, the Dutch tank storage and terminal operator has pushed back a final investment decision (FID) on South Africa's first liquefied natural gas terminal to 2028.

The company had planned to approve the project earlier this year. Still, a September court order halted power utility Eskom's plans to develop a 3,000 megawatt gas-powered plant at Richards Bay, slowing progress.

"We were waiting to see what was happening with Eskom, and we just extended our pre-FEED study," Oliver Naidu, president of Vopak's local unit, told Reuters on the sidelines of the African Energy Indaba in Cape Town, referring to an early design study.

The company now expects to be ready to make the final decision in the first quarter of 2028, he said.

The two-phase project is estimated to cost around $1bn.

Vopak was selected in 2024 as part of a consortium with Transnet Pipelines to build and run the Zululand Energy terminal at Richards Bay port for 25 years.

Naidu said they expected to sign preliminary agreements with Eskom and, potentially, US oil major ExxonMobil in the coming months for LNG use and distribution.

Exxon is one of the strong potential customers, he said.

ExxonMobil, a global LNG supplier, previously identified South Africa as a top-priority market.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Zululand Energy terminal, situated along South Africa's east coast, was expected to initially import two million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG by 2027 before ramping up to five mtpa, the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has said previously.

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