The South African state oil company Sasol will invest 760 million dollars (627 million euros) in natural gas exploration that it has held since 2004 in Inhambane, southern Mozambique, the company announced today in conjunction with the Mozambican government.
The oil company made the “final investment decision to develop additional natural gas reservoirs,” in Inhassoro district, alongside the Pande and Temane gas fields it already operates, the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy said in a statement.
The investment will be used to produce 30,000 tons of cooking gas per year in what will be the first unit of its kind in the country.
It will also generate 450 megawatts of electricity at the Temane combined cycle power plant, energy to be injected into the Mozambican grid.
The project also contemplates the production of 4,000 barrels of light oil per day for export.
The government expects that Mozambique will stop importing about 75% of the current volume of cooking gas and hopes that there will be a massification of the use of cooking gas, contributing to a reduction in deforestation for consumption as fuel.
Construction of the infrastructure is due to start in July and will employ around 3,000 Mozambicans, in addition to “thousands of indirect jobs over the next three years,” the government adds.
The Sasol project in the province of Inhambane, southern Mozambique, has been operating for 17 years with exports by pipeline to South Africa, and is currently the only hydrocarbon exploration project in the country.
In the Rovuma basin, north of the country, the natural gas megaprojects should start production in 2022 (Eni) and 2024 (Total).
