TotalEnergies approves restart of $20-bn Mozambique gas project
France’s TotalEnergies said on Saturday that the consortium it leads to build a $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique has decided to lift a suspension of work imposed in 2021 due to jihadist violence.
TotalEnergies said in a statement that the “force majeure” halt on the Mozambique LNG project will be lifted, but added that the Mozambican government must approve this move before work can restart.
It was stated that Mozambican President Daniel Chapo was informed of the decision on Friday.
The statement confirmed a report from local Zitmar channel.
The Mozambique LNG project, the largest private investment in Africa’s energy infrastructure, is expected to create thousands of jobs and help the country become one of the world’s largest LNG exporters.
Work was halted in March 2021 after jihadists launched a deadly attack on the project site near the Tanzanian border, resulting in the deaths of nearly 800 people.
There have been no other attacks of this level since then, but the jihadist uprising has not stopped. The UN said there were about 633 attacks on civilians this year.
During his visit to the United States on Saturday, Chapo would go to the headquarters of the US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, which is evaluating a different gas project in Mozambique.
The head of ExxonMobil’s operations in Mozambique said in September that the US company’s decision on the Rovuma LNG project was linked to TotalEnergies halting the project.
The French oil and gas company is the leading partner of the Mozambique LNG consortium with a 26.5 percent share. The consortium said it could start making its first LNG deliveries four years after the project started.
The African Development Bank estimated in 2018 that Mozambique had more than five trillion cubic meters of natural gas; This amount was enough for England, France, Germany and Italy for 20 years.
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