Inhambane, Mozambique, July 14, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mozambican government on Monday assured that conditions are in place for the resumption of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) megaproject in Cabo Delgado, following a meeting between the country's president Daniel Chapo and the head of TotalEnergies.
"It was a contact with a view to restarting activities. At government level, all conditions are being created to enable investors to restart activities as soon as possible," said Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy Estêvão Pale, on the sidelines of the launch ceremony for the Public Consultation Programme on Legal Reform of the National Extractive Sector, in the southern province of Inhambane.
At issue is Thursday's meeting between Mozambican Head of State, Daniel Chapo and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné, which was confirmed to Lusa by the French oil company but whose agenda was not disclosed at the time.
Patrick Pouyanné previously admitted the possibility of resuming the US$20 billion (€17.3 billion) megaproject by August, and several subcontractors are receiving instructions to prepare to return to work on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado, in the far north of Mozambique, which was suspended four years ago due to terrorist attacks.
Today, the minister reaffirmed his support for the multinational to resume the project: "The President [Daniel Chapo] has once again reaffirmed the commitment that has been made to ensure that this activity can be restarted as soon as possible."
Without giving dates for the resumption of the project, he reiterated that the withdrawal of the force majeure clause, triggered in 2021 due to terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, depends on TotalEnergies and its partners: "it was not the Mozambicans who initiated the force majeure clause".
TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is currently developing the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, for the production and export of LNG.
The multinational has a 26.5% stake in this project, mainly intended for customers in Asia, alongside Mozambican partners and Japan's Mitsui (20%).
On 22 June, the Mozambican president argued that TotalEnergies should lift the ‘force majeure’ clause so that the natural gas megaproject can finally move forward.
"The most important thing at this moment with TotalEnergies is the lifting of “force majeure”. No matter how much we sign a development plan [for the gas project] without lifting “force majeure”, we will not be doing anything," said the Mozambican head of state on that date.
"If the “force majeure” clause is lifted," he said on the same day, "the project will go ahead," with an anticipated annual production capacity of 13.12 million tonnes of LNG.
He added that according to information from TotalEnergies, of the US$15 billion (€13 billion) of financing still needed for the project, US$13 billion (€11.3 billion) is guaranteed, recalling the previous announcement by US Exim Bank, the export bank of the United States, which in March confirmed its support of US$4.7 billion (€4 billion), with a decision from European banks on the remainder still pending.
The French multinational had already announced its intention to resume the LNG megaproject in northern Mozambique this year, with financing needs virtually secured and the security situation in the area guaranteed.
Mozambique has three approved development projects for the exploration of natural gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, classified among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.
Since October 2017, the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State, which have displaced more than one million people.
In 2024 alone, at least 349 people died in attacks by Islamic extremist groups in the province, an increase of 36% over the previous year, according to data recently released by the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, an academic institution of the US Department of Defense that analyses conflicts in Africa.
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