Mozambique has started exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the country’s conflict-hit Cabo Delgado province, President Filipe Nyusi announced late Sunday.
In a televised message, Nyusi said the first export shipment of gas produced at the offshore Coral Sul floating LNG facility operated by Italian company Eni.
“Today, Mozambique enters the annals of world history as one of the exporting countries of LNG,” Nyusi said.
He said British oil giant BP has the purchasing rights over the gas.
The shipment comes at a time when Europe is looking for alternative sources of gas, as it tries to reduce its reliance on Russia.
Eni announced on Sunday that the first shipment of LNG produced at its gas field off the Mozambican coast departed from the facility.
The Coral Sul LNG facility has a gas liquefaction capacity of 3.4 million metric tonnes a year and is the first floating LNG facility ever deployed in the deep waters of the African continent.
Mozambique is sitting on huge deposits of gas amid projections that the country could become one of the world’s 10 biggest exporters if all the reserves are tapped into.
However, the Cabo Delgado region has been hit by an insurgency by Islamic State-linked militants that has cast doubts over the viability of LNG exploration sites, and stalled progress of a number of projects.
JN/APA