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Mozambique will help meet Europe’s

demand for natural gas, EU envoy says

MOZAMBIQUE AN EU diplomat serving in Mozambique has from other places are arriving.”
said he expects the south-eastern African coun- The International Organisation for Migra-
try to be an alternative source of natural gas for tion (IOM) estimates that 784,000 people
the bloc, which is moving away from Russian have been displaced by the conflict, which has
deliveries. resulted in 4,000 deaths, according to the Armed
“Mozambique gas, with the presence of large Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
European multinational companies, now has State-owned National Hydrocarbons Com-
an even more important and strategic value,” pany (ENH) has acknowledged the country’s
Sánchez-Benedito Gaspar told the Portuguese chances of helping to address growing gas needs
news agency Lusa. in Europe, Lusa reported on July 26, citing
Gaspar, Lusa reports, said that after Russia Mozambique’s Information Agency (AIM).
invaded Ukraine in February, the EU came to “With the situation of the war in Ukraine,
the conclusion that “it cannot trust its old part- the European market has increased demand for
ner [Russia, among the largest gas exporters in gas. One of the ways to speed up our gas to reach
the world], which is authoritarian and uses gas the markets is to use a second floating platform
as an instrument of war.” Under the circum- similar to the one that is already here in Mozam-
stances, he said, the bloc is seeking alternative bique,” said ENH’s executive commercial direc-
sources of energy.. tor, Pascoal Mocumbi Júnior.
“We have adopted a new strategy in Europe, Mozambique has an estimated 180 trillion
called ‘RePower EU’, which has several elements. cubic feet (5.1 trillion cubic metres) of proven
With regard to gas, which is considered a transi- gas reserves. The bulk of it has so far been dis-
tional energy, we are looking for alternative sup- covered in offshore Rovuma basin in northern
pliers. Mozambique is among the alternatives,” Cabo Delgado Province.
he said. The Coral South LNG consortium, led by
The Islamist insurgency in the north, he Eni (Italy), has started loading gas from one of
added, did posed a threat after it started in Octo- the fields in this basin on to its floating LNG
ber 2017. However, he stated, Mozambique, (FLNG) facility in the area. The FLNG vessel, the
with help from Rwanda and southern Africa, Coral Sul FLNG, is set to start sending cargoes to
has been largely successful in neutralising it the sole off-taker, BP (UK), within a few weeks.
since July 2021. Other partnerships led by TotalEnergies
“There have been great advances on the (France) and ExxonMobil (US) have assets in
ground. The insurgency no longer has this abil- that zone as well. Meanwhile, Mozambique’s
ity to permanently control key territories,” he government expects to conclude a licensing
noted. “I think that unfortunately, the threat will round for additional blocks just south of the
continue in a localised manner. Everything indi- Rovuma basin by December 2022. Onshore,
cates that some of these [rebel] forces are mixed South Africa’s Sasol has been extracting gas from
with the population, and also that terrorists fields in southern Mozambique since 2004. ™

The Rovuma basin is thought to hold more than 5 trillion cubic metres of gas (Image: Anadarko)

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 30 28•July•2022