TotalEnergies still intends to carry through its giant gas project in Mozambique, but is prepared to take “as much time as is necessary” for security to return to the region, CEO Patrick Pouyanné said on Thursday.
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the predominantly Muslim province of Cabo Delgado, in the north-east of the country, has been stalled since it was halted by jihadist attacks last year. The region has been plagued by violence since late 2017.
“We have not decided to abandon this project at all,” Pouyanné assured journalists during a presentation of the group’s annual results.
“But in order to be able to relaunch the project, we will only do it when we are convinced that we can basically come back but not to leave again after six months, because that [would be] the end of the matter,” he added.
“We will only go [back] when we consider that the security conditions not only of the site but of the population, that stability, a lasting peace, have returned to Cabo Delgado,” he added. “We will take as much time as is necessary.”
TotalEnergies, which had planned to start production in 2024, recently made 2026 its new target date.
Source: Club of Mozambique
