A glimmer of hope has emerged from the troubled gas fields of northern Mozambique, with French energy giant TotalEnergies hinting at a potential restart of its colossal Mozambique LNG project by the middle of this year. Patrick Pouyanne, the CEO of the company spearheading the venture on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado province, delivered the optimistic outlook, raising expectations that the country could finally realise its ambition of becoming a major global player in liquefied natural gas.
The ambitious $20 billion undertaking, stalled since a brutal Islamist militant attack on the town of Palma in 2021, received a significant boost last March when the United States Export-Import Bank greenlit a nearly $5 billion loan. This crucial financial injection follows a previous commitment of $4.7 billion secured under the Trump administration, which required renewed approval after the force majeure declared in the wake of the terrorist raid.
Speaking to LNG Prime Media, Pouyanne indicated that TotalEnergies and its partners are targeting a mid-year resumption of construction on the 12.8 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) facility. His announcement comes after expressing confidence in February that US financing would be approved, anticipating similar endorsements from other international credit agencies to follow. The company has been eagerly awaiting the formal re-approval of loans from the UK and Dutch export credit agencies before officially lifting the force majeure that has hung over the project for the past three years.
The “Mozambique LNG” project, in which TotalEnergies holds a commanding 26.5 percent stake, was once envisioned as a transformative development for the Mozambican economy. The 2021 jihadist incursion, however, brought all progress to an abrupt and devastating halt, underscoring the persistent security challenges in the resource-rich Cabo Delgado region.
The Mozambican government is also banking on the UK and the Netherlands to reaffirm their financial backing, paving the way for the project’s revival. Should these pieces fall into place, it would mark a significant step forward in unlocking Mozambique’s vast natural gas reserves and potentially reshaping the global LNG landscape. The resumption of the project would not only inject much-needed investment into the Mozambican economy but also offer a beacon of hope for a region scarred by conflict and instability. The world will be watching closely to see if this renewed optimism translates into tangible progress on the ground.
