India’s state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has secured marketing rights from TotalEnergies’ long-delayed Mozambique LNG project, Indian news agency Mint reported on August 25.
BPCL holds a 10% stake in the project, with fellow Indian energy firms Beas Rovuma Energy, Oil India, and ONGC also holding stakes in the project, in addition to Japan’s Mitsui, Thailand’s PTTEP, Mozambique’s ENH along with operator TotalEnergies.
Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) has secured rights to market liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Mozambique’s long-stalled project, where it holds a 10% stake, with full development now set to resume as security improves.
Addressing the state-owned company’s annual general meeting, chairman and managing director Sanjay Khanna said the project, jointly owned by three Indian public sector undertakings (PSUs) with a combined 30% stake, will enhance BPCL’s upstream presence.
“While security concerns had delayed the project, conditions have improved now, and full-scale development is expected to resume soon,” Khanna said. “Once operational, the two-train LNG project will boost our upstream presence and support the energy transition. We have already secured LNG marketing rights in line with our 10% participating interest.”
The chairman described the Mozambique project as “a world-class gas asset with nearly 70 trillion cubic feet of recoverable resources”.
ONGC Videsh Ltd holds 16%, BPRL Ventures Mozambique BV—a subsidiary of BPCL—holds 10% and Oil India Ltd owns 4%.Total E&P Mozambique Area 1 Limitada, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, holds 26.5% in the plant and is its operator.
Operations at the Offshore Area 1 project in the coastal town of Palma had been suspended in April 2021, following attacks by Islamic state terrorists.
The chairman said BPCL’s upstream portfolio in Brazil was also advancing, with BM-SEAL-11 moving into the tendering stage for the Floating Production Storage & Offloading (FPSO) vessel and other long-lead items.
“This is a major step toward developing this strategic asset. At our Nunukan asset in Indonesia, the Plan of Development (POD) has received regulatory approval, paving the way for the project’s development,” he added.
BPCL entered the upstream sector in 2003 with an aim to provide partial supply security of crude and hedging of price risks and to become a vertically integrated oil company. Its subsidiary BPRL was incorporated in 2006 to carry out exploration and production activities.
BPRL holds participating interest (PI) in 15 blocks, with eight blocks located in India and seven overseas. BPRL has equity stakes in two Russian entities, which hold licenses for four producing blocks in Russia. While BPRL directly holds participating interest in domestic blocks, its stakes with respect to blocks in Brazil, Mozambique, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and equity stakes in Russian entities are held through step-down wholly-owned subsidiaries or joint ventures of the wholly-owned subsidiaries in the Netherlands and Singapore.
Addressing shareholders, the chairman said fiscal year 2025 (FY25) was marked by heightened volatility and uncertainty, driven by ongoing geopolitical conflicts, rising protectionism and shifting trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs by major economies.
“These disruptions have tested the resilience of global markets and challenged conventional growth trajectories. Yet, amidst these headwinds, there are signs of cautious optimism,” he said. “Global growth projections for 2025 have been revised upward—from 2.8% to 3.0%—reflecting stronger-than-expected performance in large economies, a rebound in services trade, and sustained fiscal support in select regions.”
Khanna said the global oil sector is undergoing a fundamental shift and structural changes are redefining both demand and supply dynamics, as the world transitions toward cleaner energy and diversified fuel sources.
“By 2030, global oil demand is expected to grow by 2.5 million barrels per day, before plateauing at approximately 105.5 million barrels by the end of the decade,” he said. “On the supply side, the unwinding of the oil production cut is resetting oil supply trajectories over the 2024-30 forecast period. Globally, as the transport and power generation sectors continue to diversify towards alternate fuels, the petrochemical industry is set to become the dominant source of global oil demand growth,” Khanna said.
On BPCL’s diversification efforts, he said the company’s ‘Project Aspire’ would strengthen its core businesses in refining, marketing and upstream operations with sharper execution, while advancing into petrochemicals, renewables, green hydrogen, biofuels, and gas. BPCL has planned a total capital expenditure of ₹1.70 trillion under ‘Project Aspire’.
He also said that the recent amendment to the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act would help BPCL unlock new acreages and improve recovery from its existing fields. This would create opportunities for the company to pursue selective, high-potential investments in India’s sedimentary basins through BPRL.
Source: Club Of Mozambique / Mint
