TotalEnergies’ project director Stephane Le Galles said that the company’s $20 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export facility is not expected to start operating until 2027, even if it is quickly decided to lift the force majeure on the works and proceed with development.
In statements made to Bloomberg yesterday, Tuesday, during a visit to the construction site, Stephane Le Galles said that “from the moment we restart production, we will need another four years to build the facilities,” and exports from the plant could “start in 2027 at the earliest.”
TotalEnergies suspended work on the project in 2021, following Islamic military attacks in districts near the construction site, which is near the city of Palma, in Cabo Delgado province.
The company has not yet decided when it will resume the project, and has several conditions necessary for a positive decision, which include the costs to be covered, an improved security situation, the return of Mozambican government officials to the cities of Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, and an assessment of human rights conditions in Cabo Delgado province.
Last month, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné visited that province and entrusted Jean-Christophe Rufin, an expert in humanitarian action and human rights, with an independent mission to assess the humanitarian situation in the province.
For his part, the CEO of Saipem (the Italian engineering group subcontracted by TotalEnergies on the gas exploration project), Alessandro Puliti, expects to “gradually restart” work, “according to the information received by our clients, starting in July this year.”
Diário Económico
