Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo said on Wednesday that by July next year, ExxonMobil should move forward with the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the natural gas megaproject in Cabo Delgado.
“In our talks in Houston [USA, on 29 October], with ExxonMobil, it became clear that it is enough to resume Total’s project [which includes sharing infrastructure] and they will also start working with us so that by the middle of next year, later July/July, there can be an investment decision from Exxon,” said the head of state, regarding the US oil company’s megaproject, worth $30 billion (€25.9 billion).
The position was taken at the opening of the 20th Annual Private Sector Conference (CASP) in Maputo, recalling that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production projects in Mozambique exceed $50 billion (€43.2 billion).
Lusa had already reported this month that ExxonMobil had acknowledged that it would follow TotalEnergies in Rovuma LNG, one of the largest of its kind in Africa, after the French multinational lifted the “force majeure” on the mega gas project in Mozambique because security conditions in Cabo Delgado had improved.
“Total has just lifted its force majeure case. We’re analysing it and trying to do the same and so I would say that the project is now moving forward and we feel very good about that (…) and we’re working closely with Total on that,” said Darren Woods, chief executive of the US oil company, in a phone call with investors on 31 October from Texas, United States of America.
According to what Woods said on the call to present the third quarter results, the status of ExxonMobil’s megaproject, which still depends on FID approval, is “very good at the moment” and relations with Mozambique’s government “are very strong”.
In addition, added the government director, “the security situation has improved dramatically”, alluding to the terrorist attacks that have been taking place in Cabo Delgado for eight years and which in 2021 led TotalEnergies to activate the “force majeure” clause to suspend construction of the complex in Afungi, which will share infrastructure with ExxonMobil”s, both onshore, operating from the Rovuma Basin in northern Mozambique.
In addition to ExxonMobil, the consortium also includes Italy’s Eni and China’s China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which hold a 70% stake in the Area 4 Exploration and Production Concession Contract.
ExxonMobil previously predicted FID approval at the end of 2025, then at the beginning of 2026, and the start of LNG exports in 2030, with a planned capacity for the so-called Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin of 18 million tonnes per year (mtpa), the largest projected in Africa.
The Area 1 project, worth $20 billion (€17.3 billion) and led by TotalEnergies, is set to be taken over 4 years later and plans to start delivering LNG in 2029, with a capacity of 13 mtpa.
Currently, but offshore in the same basin, the consortium led by Italian oil company Eni is already producing around seven mtpa through the Coral Sul floating platform, which started up in 2022. Last October, the consortium signed the FID for the second platform of its kind, Coral North, which will double LNG production from 2028, with an investment of 7.2 billion dollars.
In 2024, a study by the consultancy firm Deloitte concluded that Mozambique’s gas reserves could yield $100 billion (€86.4 billion) in potential revenue.
This year alone, with the remaining operations not yet up and running, Mozambique’s estimated gas production is 5.4 billion cubic metres, making it the sixth-largest producer in Africa.
