The chairman of TotalEnergies said on Thursday that almost 80% of the $14 billion needed for the mega gas project in Cabo Delgado is guaranteed and that he will be meeting Mozambique’s next president this month in Maputo.
At a meeting with investors on Wednesday, the head of the French oil company, Patrick Pouyanné, recognised ‘progress on the ground’ in the fight against terrorism, which in 2021 led TotalEnergies to suspend investment in Cabo Delgado and underlined the ‘alliance’ that Mozambique has with Rwanda, which ensures security in the area where the project is located, on the Afungi peninsula.
‘There is an election in Mozambique [general elections on 9 October], a new President will arrive. I intend to visit Mozambique at the end of the month to meet him and discuss how the new Mozambican authorities intend to maintain this alliance with Rwanda,’ announced Patrick Pouyanné.
Mozambique is holding its seventh presidential elections on 9 October, in which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who has reached the constitutional limit of two terms, is no longer running, at the same time as the seventh legislative elections and the fourth elections for provincial assemblies and governors.
Pouyanné added at the meeting that the project for that area, ‘inherited from Anadarko’ – TotalEnergies bought that oil company’s 26.5% share in Mozambique LNG (Area 1) in 2019 for $3.9 billion (€3.5 billion), had a “fairly large” financing package of around $14 billion (€12.7 billion), and that of that total, “70 to 80%” is “confirmed” by the financiers.
‘They’re committed to it, and we’re waiting for three of them to confirm their commitment because it’s important. Some of them are in Western countries where, I would say, the position on financing energy projects and oil and gas projects has changed. But they all tell us, repeat to us, that they are committed to the contract they signed. That’s why we’re waiting for the green light for this financing,’ he explained, saying that they are only waiting for this confirmation to “restart the project”.
He insisted that the goal is to start producing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in Afungi in 2029, which implies that the project is expected to ‘restart in 2024’.
Mozambique has three development projects approved to exploit the natural gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, which is classified as one of the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.
TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is developing the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, to produce and export natural gas, which has been suspended since 2021 due to the terrorist attacks.
The president of Mozambique said on 2 May in Maputo that it was essential to resume natural gas megaprojects given the ‘promising stability’ in Cabo Delgado, the scene of terrorist attacks, saying that financial decisions cannot be argued at this stage.
‘This is fundamental because financial decisions cannot now be a problem associated with the terrorist situation. This project already existed. It’s old. That means there was clarity in its execution. It can’t run aground for this reason, let’s look for others,’ criticised Filipe Nyusi.
Source: Lusa / Club Of Mozambique
