Speaking to journalists during the closing of the 8th Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, which took place for three days (14, 15 and 16 August) in the city of Lichinga, province of Niassa, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energia, Carlos Zacarias, assured that “there are very clear signs of how security conditions are created”.
“Right now, the Government and TotalEnergies are working to ensure that the development of the natural gas project in Area 1 of the Rovuma basin, northern Mozambique, is reactivated as quickly as possible”, added the official.
The consortium led by the French oil company activated the “force majeure” clause, suspending construction work on the factory that will produce liquefied natural gas, following an attack by armed insurgents in the district of Palma, close to the perimeter of the project, on March 24, 2021.
To this end, Carlos Zacarias said he could not “advance a specific date” for the return of the TotalEnergies consortium to the works for the installation of the factory, but emphasized that the resumption will be “as soon as possible”.
“Naturally, we are not going to talk about a specific date, since there are more variables and there are more components that have to be ensured”, he highlighted.
The minister declared that contacts are underway with TotalEnergies so that small and medium-sized Mozambican companies can make the most of the business opportunities that will be generated when the consortium returns to Palma.
Regarding the liquefied natural gas production project that is already being implemented in the Rovuma waters by a consortium led by the Italian multinational Eni, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy expressed satisfaction with the pace of the project's activity, highlighting the fact that the even though I am already exporting this resource.
Mozambique has three development projects approved for the exploitation of natural gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, classified among the largest in the world, and located off the coast of the province of Cabo Delgado.
Two of these projects are larger and plan to channel gas from the seabed to land, cooling it in a factory and then exporting it by sea in a liquid state.
One is led by TotalEnergies (Area 1 consortium) and the works progressed until it was suspended for an indefinite period, after the armed attack on Palma, in March 2021, when the French energy company declared that it would only resume work when the area was safe. The other is the investment yet to be announced in sight led by ExxonMobil and Eni (Area 4 consortium).
A third completed and smaller project also belongs to the Area 4 consortium and consists of a floating platform for capturing and processing gas for export, directly at sea, which started in November 2022.
