The restart of works at the Mozambique LNG project have been suspended following attacks on on a nearby coastal town of Palma.
Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy made the announcement and said that the government has declared the area of the Mozambique LNG Project as a special security zone. Work on the multi-billion project was interrupted at the end of December 2020, due to security threats in the immediate vicinity. Since then the government and Total have been working to draw up a plan of action to strengthen security around the site and the neighbouring villages.
Attacks on the town, which serves as the hub for the project, began on the day that Total announced it would gradually restart work, citing government efforts to improve security in the area.
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Mozambique LNG Project
“A road map has been drawn up with measures and actions seeking to restore and strengthen security. These measures include increasing the size of the contingent of the Mozambican defence and security forces stationed at Afungi. They will allow the gradual return of the workers who had been evacuated, and the resumption of construction activities,” read the statement.
The statement further added that, control over the Afungi special security area continues to be guaranteed exclusively by the public security forces under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the government and Total. The special security area covers the zone within a 25km perimeter around the LNG project.
The Mozambique LNG Project started with the discovery of a vast quantity of natural gas off the coast of northern Mozambique in 2010. The project comprises the Golfinho-Atum gas field development in the offshore Area 1 Block of the deep-water Rovuma Basin and the construction of a 12.88 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the Cabo Delgado coast of Mozambique. This will be the first onshore LNG facility in Mozambique.
The Project is operated by Total, the world’s second largest LNG player with a leading presence in Africa.
