APA-Maputo (Mozambique) President Filipe Nyusi says it is safe to restart the US$20-billion Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that was suspended a year ago following a surge in insurgency in the northern Cabo Delgado province.
Nyusi said the security situation had improved in Cabo Delgado, creating conditions for a consortium led by French oil and gas major TotalEnergies to resume operations at its plant in the province.
“The working environment and security in northern Mozambique makes it possible for Total to resume its activities any time,” Nyusi told a mining and energy conference in Maputo on Wednesday.
The project, which is ranked Africa’s single largest foreign direct investment to date, was mothballed in April 2021 after TotalEnergies withdrew all personnel from the site following jihadist attacks in province.
As well as the development of offshore gas fields, the project includes a liquefaction plant and a fleet of dedicated LNG carriers.
TotalEnergies and its partners – Japan’s Mitsui, Mozambique’s national oil and gas company ENH, Thailand’s PTT Exploration, and Indian firms ONGC Videsh Limited, Bharat Petroleum and Oil India – had previously planned to launch the project in 2024 after discovering a vast quantity of natural gas off the coast of northern Mozambique in 2010.
The project is set to make Mozambique one of the world’s 10 biggest gas exporters, according to estimates.
JN/APA