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Work on the Afungi Pennsula facility has been on hold since March 2021 (Image: Mozambique LNG)

TotalEnergies seen committing to

Mozambique LNG restart by March

MOZAMBIQUE MAX Tonela, the finance minister of Mozam- No FID on Rovuma LNG yet
bique, said on September 16 that he expected The news agency also quoted the finance min-
TotalEnergies (France) to commit to resuming ister as saying that he was less certain about the
work on a major natural gas and LNG project by potential for forward movement on Rovuma
the end of the first quarter of 2023. LNG, another large-scale gas and LNG project
In an interview with Bloomberg, Tonela targeting reserves in an offshore section of the
described himself as “very optimistic” that Rovuma basin. When asked whether ExxonMo-
TotalEnergies would be ready to make a deci- bil, the leader of the Rovuma LNG consortium,
sion in favour of restarting the Mozambique might take a final investment decision (FID) in
LNG project by the end of March. The scheme the short term, Tonela said that he was “not so
will then have been on hold for two years, as the optimistic” and added that it was “not so easy to
French company declared force majeure follow- assume” that the US super-major might take this
ing a series of attacks by the Islamist separatist step next year either.
group Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamo (ASWJ) in March Jos Evens, the chairman and general man-
2021. ager of ExxonMobil Mozambique, said at the
TotalEnergies representatives have made conference in Maputo earlier in September that
clear that the company will resume work on the timing of his company’s FID would depend
Mozambique LNG only if security conditions on security conditions in the region. Exxon-
in the Cabo Delgado region have improved suf- Mobil is continuing to monitor the situation in
ficiently, the finance minister said. The govern- Cabo Delgado, he stated, without elaborating.
ment believes it has now satisfied this condition The Cabo Delgado province has been expe-
but is waiting for the French major to act, he riencing attacks by ASWJ forces since 2017,
stated. and in early 2021 the group, which has ties to
“What Total has required is a long-term secu- Islamic State (Daesh), was targeting locations
rity assurance ... Of course, they have to analyse near TotalEnergies’ onshore construction site
and take a decision on their own,” Tonela added. on the Afungi Peninsula. Subsequently, Maputo
He did not say whether Mozambique’s gov- began working with the Southern African
ernment had received any indications from Development Community (SADC), a regional
TotalEnergies about its plans. organisation, and the government of Rwanda to
Bloomberg noted, though, that Stephane Le counter the militants. They have racked up some
Galles, the French giant’s director for the LNG successes, but sporadic attacks have continued.
project, had said at a conference in Maputo ear- TotalEnergies and its partners are aiming
lier in September that “the direction is good” to extract gas from Area 1, which lies offshore
with respect to the restoration of government Mozambique within the Rovuma basin. They
control over, and public services in, Cabo will process the gas at an LNG plant and onshore
Delgado. complex on the Afungi Peninsula.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 38 22•September•2022