South African state oil company Sasol, which has been exploiting gas reserves in Temane and Pande, in Inhambane province, since 2004, has exported 2.6 billion gigajoules (GJ) of natural gas from Mozambican out of a total of 3 billion produced in the last 20 years in the country, announced Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.
Quoted by Lusa, the president, who was speaking during a statement to the nation at the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the creation of the National Petroleum Institute (INP) in Maputo, said that ‘this milestone not only put Mozambique on the regional map of natural gas producers, but also laid the foundations for the development of the oil sector at national level, exporting gas to neighbouring South Africa and feeding the Mozambican power station at Ressano Garcia’.
According to the head of state, of the 3 billion GJ of gas produced, 352 million were used on the domestic market as commercial gas, capitalising on the country’s energy potential.
‘In these 20 years, INP has launched six public tenders for the concession of areas for hydrocarbon exploration and production, located at sea and on land. These initiatives have led to the discovery of world-class natural gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, estimated at 180 trillion cubic feet,’ he added.
So far, Mozambique has awarded 20 exploration and production areas, with investment totalling around 9 billion dollars (568.8 billion meticals) for exploration and 21 billion dollars (1.3 billion meticals) for projects in the development phase.
Recently, Sasol confirmed a one-year extension – until June 2027 – on the supply of gas extracted in southern Mozambique to South African industrial clients, who have been warning of a potential slowdown in the supply of that product from next year.
However, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed group has once again reiterated its position that the amount of gas it can supply to industrial customers will decrease as reserves are depleted and can only be replaced by imports of more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The supply of gas from southern Mozambique to Sasol’s facilities in Sasolburg and Secunda (South Africa) will continue until the mid-2030s, although the group has previously indicated that it was not commercially viable for these to be converted to LNG.
In addition, electrical equipment manufacturer WEG Africa has finalised the construction of an E-house substation, which includes distribution transformers and a diesel generator set, for the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) of energy and chemicals company Sasol in Mozambique.
