Maputo, April 1, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique plans to increase production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by 500% in five years, to 20 million tonnes per year (mtpa), according to data from the Government's Five Year Programme 2025 - 2029 that Lusa saw on Tuesday.
According to the government's forecasts in the document, which will be discussed over the coming weeks in the first ordinary parliamentary session of the legislature, which began on 26 March, this growth contrasts with the starting base of 3.30 mtpa in 2024.
Another objective of the Five-Year Programme, the first of the government led by President Daniel Chapo, who took office in January, sets the target of increasing the number of contracts signed for hydrocarbon exploration from the current seven to 16 by 2029.
Mozambique has three development projects approved to exploit the natural gas reserves of the Rovuma basin, classified among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado. One of these is by TotalEnergies, which is still suspended due to security issues, on the Afungi peninsula. Only the one led by Italian Eni is in production, with the volume expected to double.
In the Five-Year Programme, the government also estimates that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita will grow from the current $662 (€612.5) to $951.71 (€880.5 million) by 2029, driven precisely by the LNG projects.
Meanwhile, the financial rating agency Fitch said in March that the expected resumption this year of TotalEnergies' LNG project will facilitate ExxonMobil's long-awaited decision on another megaproject in northern Mozambique.
"The resumption of construction of the TotalEnergies LNG project could facilitate a final investment decision on the $30bn [€27.6bn] LNG project proposed by ExxonMobil. This project would be partially onshore and contribute to economic growth during its construction phase," reads an assessment by Fitch Ratings, consulted by Lusa.
The rating agency added that this ExxonMobil project's production capacity "could be the largest to date in Mozambique, with a total capacity of 18 million tonnes per year, compared to 12.9 mtpa for the TotalEnergies project."
TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is developing the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, to produce and export natural gas.
This is one of the three projects under development in Mozambique, suspended since 2021 due to the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, which led the oil company to invoke the force majeure clause and withdraw all staff from the construction site, but which it is preparing to resume, while finalising the financing contracts for $15 billion (€13.8 billion).
In October, ExxonMobil chose the Americans from McDermott to prepare the engineering project for the natural gas production unit in Mozambique in a 16-month consortium ahead of the final investment decision (FDI).
"The Rovuma LNG Phase 1 project represents a significant development for the country and provides a significant opportunity for economic growth. The project includes the liquefaction and export of natural gas extracted from the offshore Area 4 fields off the Afungi peninsula in Mozambique [Cabo Delgado]," according to a statement from McDermott.
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.
Exxon's project in Cabo Delgado - a northern province affected seven years ago by terrorist attacks - initially expected to produce 15.2 mtpa of LNG, which has since been revised to 18 mtpa.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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