GCL (Group) Holdings Co. Ltd. and Jurong Group have signed a construction and toll-processing contract for the next phase of GCL’s Ogaden basin LNG project in Ethiopia.

GCL Energy Investment Co. Ltd.’s Ethiopia branch and Jurong Group (Holdings) Co. Ltd. signed the contract Oct. 16 at Ethiopia’s Ministry of Mines, GCL said in a release Oct. 19. The companies did not disclose the contract’s value or the planned capacity of the new phase.

The agreement covers LNG construction and toll processing. GCL said the work will advance LNG development based on Calub gas field. The companies also plan to improve supporting infrastructure, including storage and transportation systems.

Ethiopia’s newly appointed Minister of Mines, Alemtsehay Paulos, welcomed Jurong’s participation and called for prompt construction of the first module of LNG Phase II, with commissioning as an early objective. The ministry will provide policy support and related services, she said.

GCL executive president Wang Dong said the agreement would help expand LNG production capacity and develop domestic markets and international export channels. The company also described the project as part of an integrated chain spanning gas production, liquefaction, storage, transportation and end use.

Ogaden project background

The new contract follows the commissioning of GCL’s first skid-mounted LNG plant at Calub Camp in Ethiopia’s Somali Region. The plant, in the Ogaden basin, was officially commissioned Oct. 2, 2025, GCL reported.

The first-phase installation can process 200,000 cu m/day of natural gas and produce 50,000 tonnes/year of LNG, according to the company. GCL said the output would supply industrial parks and other end users in Ethiopia.

GCL’s October 2025 release also reported groundbreakings for LNG Phase II, natural gas-fired power generation, and oil refining projects adjacent to the first-phase plant. It said a later LNG production line was intended to supply export markets. The release did not provide a capacity estimate for that line, however.

The project broke ground in July 2024 and uses modular, skid-mounted technology, GCL said. At the 2025 commissioning, the company characterized the project as Ethiopia’s first oil and gas production in modern history. It also said the wider development was intended to support a domestic energy industry chain, including gas production, pipeline transportation, liquefaction, trade, and application.