Page 13 - GLNG Week 22

GLNG AFRICA GLNG

Mozambique expects Rovuma

LNG FID next year

INVESTMENT MOZAMBIQUE’S National Petroleum Insti- capacity of 3.4mn tonnes per year (tpy).
tute has said this week that it expects Exxon- When ExxonMobil first announced that
Mobil to make a final investment decision Rovuma had been delayed, it noted that Coral
(FID) on the Rovuma LNG project next year. South remained on track.
However, the super-major has dismissed the The two-train Rovuma LNG project will have
comments as speculation. This comes after a capacity of 7.6mn tpy. It had previously been
it recently pushed back the FID – which had anticipated to start up in 2025, but the schedule
been expected this year – in the wake of the will now be adjusted to account for the delay in
oil price collapse when it announced it would reaching FID.
cut its capital expenditure budget for 2020 by The 12.9mn tpy Mozambique LNG is due to
around 30%. come online in 2024. Operator Total recently
“The final investment decision of the Rovuma had to cut personnel at the site and scale down
LNG project has been postponed to, in princi- activity after an outbreak of COVID-19 among
ple, next year,” the institute’s chairman, Car- its staff.
los Zacarias, told media. In response, Reuters COVID-19 is not the only obstacle for the
reported an ExxonMobil spokesman as describ- LNG developers in Mozambique. In gas-rich
ing the comments as “third-party speculation”. Cabo Delgado Province, where the LNG projects ExxonMobil is
The spokesman added that “Rovuma LNG is a are being developed, an Islamist insurgency has
complex project that will take several years to been underway since 2017, and now appears to also involved in
develop”. He did not specify when an FID could be escalating.
be made, beyond the fact that it would not be In April, the insurgents stepped up from the Eni-led Coral
this year. But his dismissal of Zacarias’ com- attacking remote villages to appearing in major
ments suggests that perhaps it will not be next towns in the province and have started publicis- South, which
year either. ing their aim of replacing the Mozambican gov- is due to enter
Mozambique – one of the world’s least devel- ernment with an Islamic one.
oped countries – is counting on LNG to become It comes amid rising concerns among locals service in 2022.
a major new source of exports and revenue. over how the income generated by the LNG pro-
However, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pan- jects will be spent and whether locals will see any
demic has slowed momentum somewhat. None- benefits.
theless, progress is being made, and two other The insurgents have not targeted the LNG
liquefaction projects are currently under con- industry this year, but last year separate attacks
struction in the same area where Rovuma would on convoys resulted in the death of an Anadarko
be located – Mozambique LNG and Coral South Petroleum consultant, as well as several people
floating LNG (FLNG). being injured.
Indeed, ExxonMobil is also involved in If Mozambique fails to bring the insurgency
the Eni-led Coral South, which is due to enter under control, additional security costs and
service in 2022. The FLNG vessel being used measures will become an increasingly important
for Coral South will be the first to be deployed consideration for the developers of the country’s
in deep waters offshore Africa. It will have a LNG projects.™

Week 22 05•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13