Mozambique LNG project on track, Total confirms

The French oil and gas company, Total, has confirmed that the Mozambique LNG project is on track, despite security threats by Islamist terrorists.

Total Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Pouyanne said a security agreement with the government of Mozambique has been signed. The Mozambican government will now offer security in the zone where the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants will be built.

The Mozambique LNG project will be Africa’s biggest foreign direct investment of over US $ 25 billion financed by a consortium of global energy developers and operators, led by Total alongside Mitsui, Oil India, ONGC Videsh Limited, Bharat Petroleum, PTT Exploration, as well as Mozambique’s national oil and gas company, ENH.

Located in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, the area has recently suffered attacks from terrorist forcing Total to withdraw its personnel temporarily from the construction site.

Speaking to the press in Paris, Pouyanne exuded confidence that the project will run as planned, reassuring the Total shareholders that production of LNG will start in 2024.

He confirmed that the offshore and engineering works are in progress despite the suspension of the onshore works. “Stopping for two- or three-months does not mean we can’t hit the 2024 target,” he said.

READ: AfDB set to join landmark Mozambique LNG financing

An evacuation of over 9,000 workers from the construction site left less than 1,000 are in place.

According to Pouyanne, an action plan had been drawn up on the deployment of security forces and an agreement reached with the government to control a perimeter of at least 25 kilometres.

“It is the government’s responsibility to secure the area for this project to continue. With the deployment of forces, the whole of Cabo Delgado province will be secure,” he said.

The project, which benefits from one of the world’s largest natural gas reserves off the coast of northern Mozambique, will be the country’s first liquefied natural gas development. It will initially consist of two LNG trains with a total capacity of around 13 million tons per annum.

Last year, the African Development Bank (AfDB) concluded its bid to co-finance the construction of the integrated Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant by signing a senior loan of US $400 million for the transformational project.

A global syndicate of commercial banks, development finance institutions and export credit agencies also bade to provide the requisite financing for the project.