The Mozambican government confirmed on Monday, July 14, that the conditions are now in place to resume the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Cabo Delgado, following a meeting between President Daniel Chapo and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné.
“It was a meeting aimed at restarting activities. At the government level, all conditions are being created to allow investors to resume operations as soon as possible,” said Estêvão Pale, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, on the sidelines of the launch of the Public Consultation Program on Legal Reform in the Extractive Sector, held in Inhambane Province.
The statement comes after a meeting between the head of state and the CEO of the French oil major on Thursday, July 10. Although the meeting’s agenda was not publicly disclosed, TotalEnergies confirmed it to news agency Lusa.
Patrick Pouyanné had previously mentioned the possibility of restarting the $20 billion (1.6 trillion meticais) project by August. Subcontractors have already received instructions to prepare for a return to operations at the Afungi Peninsula, which have been suspended since 2021 due to armed attacks and instability.
The minister reaffirmed the government’s support for TotalEnergies during the restart process:
“The President of the Republic once again reiterated the commitment that has been made to ensure that the project can resume as quickly as possible.”
Although no exact date was given for the restart, Estêvão Pale emphasized that the decision to lift the “force majeure” clause—activated by TotalEnergies in 2021 after security deteriorated—rests with the company and its partners:
“It wasn’t the Mozambicans who invoked the ‘force majeure’ clause.”
TotalEnergies leads the Area 1 consortium, developing a natural gas liquefaction facility in Afungi, Palma district, with the aim of exporting LNG primarily to Asian markets. The company holds 26.5% of the project, with other stakeholders including Mozambican entities and Japan’s Mitsui, which owns 20%.
On June 22, President Daniel Chapo publicly called for lifting the “force majeure” clause as a crucial step for advancing the megaproject:
“The most important thing right now, with TotalEnergies, is lifting the ‘force majeure’. No matter how many development plans are signed, if ‘force majeure’ is not lifted, we won’t be making any progress,” he stated.
According to TotalEnergies, of the $15 billion still needed to finance the project, $13 billion have already been secured. Among the commitments is a $4.7 billion loan from the US Exim Bank, confirmed in March. European banks have not yet finalized their decisions regarding the remaining funds.
TotalEnergies has reiterated its goal to resume operations this year, noting that security in Afungi is now deemed stable enough by Mozambican authorities. The project is expected to have an annual production capacity of 13.12 million tonnes of LNG.
Source: DE
