Sales of natural gas by Mozambique totalled US$1.177 billion (€1.059 billion) up to September, more than double that of the whole of 2022, coming close to coal, which continues to be the main export product.
According to a detailed report by the Bank of Mozambique on the volume of the country’s exports, with data for the three quarters of 2023, to which Lusa had access today, natural gas exports broke the record in the third quarter, surpassing 500 million dollars (450 million euros), compared to more than 335 million dollars (301 million euros) in the previous quarter.
For the whole of 2022, Mozambique’s natural gas exports totalled 541 million dollars (487 million euros) and about half that of the previous year, according to the record provided by the Bank of Mozambique.
Also in the third quarter, Mozambique exported more than 574 million dollars (516 million euros) in mineral coal, which is still the leading product sold abroad by the African country. In the total of the three quarters, Mozambique exported almost 1,619 million dollars (1,457 million euros) in coal and in the whole of 2022 around 2,852 million dollars (2,567 million euros), double the figure for 2021.
Overall, Mozambican exports totalled 3,714.9 million dollars (3,344 million euros) from January to September, but in 2022 they broke the record, with more than 8,280.9 million dollars (7,464 million euros) in sales abroad, driven by coal.
The increase in natural gas exports is explained by the start-up, at the end of October 2022, of operations in Area 4, 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 last month.
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.
A document released earlier, drawn up by the Mozambican firm Consultec for the oil company Eni, points to an investment of seven billion dollars (6.3 billion euros), subject to approval by the Mozambican government.
If the schedule goes according to plan, the platform will begin production in the second half of 2027, meaning it could start up even before the onshore projects, which depend on security implications due to the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado.
Coral Norte will be stationed 10 kilometres north of Coral Sul, which started production in November last year, making it the first project to take advantage of the large reserves in the Rovuma basin.
