Oil company Total today announced reasons of “force majeure” for having withdrawn all staff from northern Mozambique following the escalation of armed rebel violence with the attack on Palma, near the gas project.
Valued at 20 billion euros, this is the largest ongoing private investment in Africa.
“Considering the evolution of the security situation in the north of Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique, Total confirms the withdrawal of all personnel of the Mozambique LNG project from the Afungi site. This situation leads Total, as operator of the Mozambique LNG project, to declare force majeure,” reads a statement.
“Total expresses its solidarity with the government and people of Mozambique and wishes that the actions taken” by the country and partners “allow the re-establishment of security and stability in Cabo Delgado province in a sustained manner,” it concludes, without further clarification.
It is the first time that the oil company resorts to the concept of ‘force majeure’ used in law to justify the failure to meet certain obligations with external factors.
A week after the March 24 attack on the district headquarters of Palma, the oil company withdrew all personnel and abandoned indefinitely the gas project site on the Afungi peninsula, six kilometers south of the town.
The project had until now been scheduled to start production in 2024 and it is the project that anchors many of Mozambique’s expectations for economic growth in the next decade.
