Maputo, July 21, 2025 (Lusa) - Profits at Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), Mozambique’s state-owned oil operator, fell by half in 2024 to 1.737 billion meticais (€23.4 million), according to official data consulted by Lusa on Monday.
This performance contrasts with the positive net results of 3.58 billion meticais (€48.2 million) in 2023, which represented a sevenfold increase in one year. The administration attributed this to the “considerable increase in revenues from natural gas sales” in that year.
According to the document, with the financial statements as at 31 December 2024, in addition to the profit adjustment, ENH closed the year with total assets that grew to 28.706 billion meticais (€386.9 million) and liabilities that rose slightly to 8.918 billion meticais (€120.2 million).
ENH, which has a share capital of 749 million meticais (€10 million) fully subscribed by the Mozambican State, operates under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, with its main activity being oil exploration, ‘namely the prospecting, exploration, development, production, transport, transmission and marketing of hydrocarbons and their derivatives,’ including import and export.
The document said that ENH distributed dividends to the State of 1.2 billion meticais (€16.1 million) in 2024 (from the previous financial year) and 877.6 million meticais (€11.8 million) in 2023.
ENH explained that it is a concessionaire, together with other entities, of licences granted by the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy to carry out oil exploration, development and production activities in Mozambique in 11 concessions, with holdings ranging from 10% to 30% The oil company had recorded a net loss of 153.1 million meticais (€2 million) in 2021, which turned into a profit of 461.9 million meticais (€6.2 million) in 2022, with sales of goods and services—mainly gas—almost doubling to 960.2 million meticais (€12.9 million).
In 2023, ENH’s revenues from the sale of natural gas exceeded 1.61 billion meticais (€21.7 million), nearly double that of 2022.
Created in 1981, ENH participates in all oil operations and in the respective phases of research, exploration, production, refining, transportation, storage, and marketing of hydrocarbons and their derivatives, including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Gas to Liquids (GTL), both within and outside the country.
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, in addition to the one operated by Eni and already in production, such as Mozambique LNG (Area 1), operated by TotalEnergies, up to 43 million tonnes per year (mtpa), and Rovuma LNG (Area 4), which ExxonMobil operates, with 18 million tonnes per annum, currently under development.
In 2024, consulting firm Deloitte concluded that Mozambique’s LNG reserves represent potential revenues of $100 billion (€96.2 billion), highlighting the country’s international importance in the energy transition.
This year alone, with the remaining operations yet to come online, Mozambique’s estimated gas production is 5.4 billion cubic metres, making it the sixth largest producer in Africa.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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