The Mozambican state expects to receive 4.2 billion meticais in tax revenue from natural gas next year, according to the documents supporting the proposal for the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget (PESOE) for 2024.
According to the proposal, these revenues, from Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the Coral Sul project in the Rovuma basin, represent only 0.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expected for 2024.
A few days ago, the Bank of Mozambique (BdM) revealed that the country’s natural gas exports soared 80.9 per cent in volume in the second quarter compared to 2022, bringing in 336 million dollars.
According to the institution’s report on the national balance of payments in the second quarter, this is an inflow of 238.1 million dollars, higher than in the same period in 2022, essentially explained by “the increase in the volume exported”.
“This was justified by the start of exploration and export of gas from Area 4 of the Rovuma basin, given that the international price fell by 64.1 per cent,” the document reads.
However, despite this increase, natural gas did not dethrone coal as Mozambique’s main export product, which earned the country 583.4 million dollars in the second quarter.
Area 4 in the Rovuma basin, in the north of the country, is operated by Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint venture co-owned by ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC (China), which has a 70 per cent stake in the concession contract, with natural gas production starting in 2022. Galp, Kogas (South Korea) and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (Mozambique) each hold a 10% stake.
Eni, the concessionaire for Rovuma Area 4, is already discussing with the Mozambican government the development of a second floating platform, a copy of the first and called Coral Norte, to increase gas extraction, a source from the Italian oil company told Lusa at the beginning of October.
This plan involves the acquisition of a second FNLG floating platform for the Coral Norte area, identical to the one that has been extracting gas in the Coral Sul area since mid-2022.
“Eni is working towards the development of Coral Norte through a second FLNG in Mozambique, taking advantage of the experience and lessons learnt in the Coral Sul FLNG, including those related to costs and execution time,” added the same source from the oil company, the delegated operator of that consortium.
