Page 4 - GLNG Week 40

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG
Mozambique takes a big step
towards becoming a major
player on global gas markets
With MRV’s initial investment decision and EPC contract award, the African country has taken a step towards becoming a major player on global gas markets
INVESTMENT
WHAT:
ExxonMobil and its partners are set to spend $500mn on onshore construction and $9.2bn on the building of a gas liquefaction plant.
WHY:
MRV’s plans represent the biggest private investment project in Africa.
WHAT NEXT:
Progress on the Mozambique LNG deal should help President Filipe Nyusi win re- election on October 15, despite a change in schedule.
MOZAMBIQUE took a big step towards becoming a major player in the world’s natural gas industry this week. On October 8, the coun- try’s government hosted a ceremony at which the US giant ExxonMobil said it was ready to invest more than $500mn in the initial phase of construction work on the Rovuma LNG project, which calls for using production from the deep- water block known as Area 4 as feedstock for a gas liquefaction plant.
Peter Clarke, ExxonMobil’s head of power and gas marketing, con rmed the company’s initial investment decision at the ceremony in Maputo. “ e Area 4 partners will advance midstream and upstream area project activities of more than $500mn as initial investments,” he said.
Clarke also revealed that ExxonMobil and its partners in the consortium known as Mozam- bique Rovuma Ventures (MRV) had selected a contractor for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work on the project. Specif- ically, he said MRV had tasked a group set up by JGC (Japan), Fluor (US) and Technip FMC (UK)
with constructing the LNG complex’s onshore facilities. is group will help build a two-train LNG plant with a production capacity of 15.2mn tonnes per year and associated infrastructure, he said.
He put the value of the EPC deal at $9.2bn. at would make it the biggest private-sector investment contract in Africa.
Full project deadlines
e initial agreement and the EPC contract that were unveiled this week cover only part of the project.
ExxonMobil is not just looking to build some onshore facilities and a larger gas liquefaction plant. It is also looking to carry out upstream development operations at Area 4, which con- tains more than 2.4 trillion cubic metres of gas, and build a pipeline to move gas from the o - shore eld to the onshore plant. It is these activi- ties, in combination with the construction of the LNG plant, that are likely to bring the total price tag for the project up to $27-33bn.
MRV is not quite ready yet to commit to
P4
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 40 10•October•2019