Page 21 - DMEA Week 01 2021

DMEA LNG DMEA

Total asks some staff to vacate Mozambique

LNG site on safety concerns

MOZAMBIQUE FRANCE’S Total is reported to have asked made threats that they may target it in the future.
some of the staff working on the construction In a separate Bloomberg report from Jan-
Bloomberg reported on of Mozambique LNG to vacate the site on secu- uary 1, the news service cited Total as saying it
January 2 that fighters rity concerns. This comes as attacks by Islamist had “temporarily reduced its workforce on site
from a group aligned militants in the region have been taking place in response to the prevailing environment”. The
with Islamic State had increasingly closer to the site of the LNG termi- company added that the situation was being
attacked the nearby nal in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado reviewed continuously.
village of Quitunda. Province. Total also told Bloomberg that the coronavi-
Citing sources familiar with the matter, rus (COVID-19) pandemic had further weighed
Bloomberg reported on January 2 that fighters on the decision to reduce personnel at the
from a group aligned with Islamic State had Mozambique LNG site. Indeed, Mozambique
attacked the nearby village of Quitunda. This LNG was the site of the country’s first reported
is where Total is relocating communities from COVID-19 cases in April 2020. According to
other parts of the concession as it builds Mozam- local media, a new outbreak was detected at the
bique LNG’s export facilities and other infra- project in December.
structure, according to the sources. Quitunda is The attacks significantly heighten the risk
located less than 1 km (0.62 miles) from the air- associated with the $20bn Mozambique LNG
strip the company built within its construction project, which represents Africa’s largest private
camp’s perimeter fence. investment. However, work continues for now,
The attack, which was repelled by Mozam- and in late December, South Korea’s Daewoo
bican government forces, was the first within Engineering & Construction won a fabrication
Total’s concession area and followed another contract for certain components of the pro-
attack on a town less than 5 km (3 miles) from ject’s two liquefaction trains, worth KRW500bn
the construction camp earlier that week. The ($459mn). Daewoo said it would be tasked with
LNG terminal site itself is heavily guarded and the construction of components such as steel
has not yet been attacked, but militants have frames, machinery, piping and electricity. ™

Supply disruptions in Algeria contribute

to LNG market tightness

ALGERIA IN Algeria, the port of Arzew, which is home to The disruptions in Algeria come as
the GL3Z LNG complex, had been at a stand- unplanned maintenance at other liquefac-
This is the latest in a still for about 10 days as of December 11 owing tion plants around the world has helped eat
series of setbacks for to bad weather, according to a source cited by into the global oversupply of LNG, pushing
the GL3ZLNG plant. Bloomberg. up spot prices to their highest level in around
At least two LNG vessels were idled near the two years. But even with strengthening prices,
port, the news service reported on December Sonatrach has not been offering any cargoes to
11, adding that one of them – the Lalla Fatma the spot market, leading traders to speculate
N’Soumer – had been there since December 1, that the company has limited volumes available
according to in-house ship-tracking data. to sell.
This is the latest in a series of setbacks for the Sonatrach has not publicly commented on
GL3Z LNG plant. Bloomberg cited LNG traders the issue. However, Algeria is reported to be
as saying Algeria had already been struggling seeking to increase its gas supplies to Europe –
with separate export issues since late summer, both gas and LNG – over the coming year, as
and GL3Z LNG had not exported a cargo since competition for the European market intensifies.
mid-August. In the longer term, meanwhile, the North
State-owned Sonatrach, which operates the African country has warned that its gas exports
export plant, had increased flows via pipeline could fall sharply unless it is able to offset exist-
to Southern Europe, the news service cited two ing production declines, as well as meet growing
traders as saying. domestic demand. ™

Week 01 07•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P21