Maputo, Oct. 3, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has insisted on the lifting of the “force majeure” clause in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) megaproject led by TotalEnergies, assuring that the conditions are in place in Cabo Delgado for its resumption.
"The conditions have been met for the 'force majeure' to be lifted and we are waiting for the concessionaire of Area 1, the Mozambique LNG project, to make a statement on this matter," said Chapo at the ceremony in Maputo to sign the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the new Coral Norte floating LNG platform, alluding to security in Cabo Delgado, a province that has been the scene of terrorist attacks since 2017.
The partners in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, off Cabo Delgado, Eni, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), CNPC, Kogas, and XRG signed the FID this afternoon for this new project, worth $7.2 billion (€6.2 billion), a copy of Coral South, also operated by Eni, which will double Mozambique's LNG production to seven million tonnes per year (mtpa) by 2028.
Mozambique has three LNG megaprojects off the coast of Cabo Delgado, with only Eni's Coral Sul and now Coral Norte, offshore of the province, having progressed. The others are being developed on land, namely on the Afungi peninsula.
The head of state recalled that Mozambique's government, in collaboration with the concessionaires, "has been taking measures to resolve the security challenges". To this end, he emphasised, in August, Mozambique signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Rwanda, whose military is already operating in Cabo Delgado in the fight against terrorist groups in support of the Mozambican army.
"It's an international instrument that confirms the prolonged presence of Rwandan forces in Cabo Delgado, at least during the construction period of the Mozambique and Rovuma LNG projects, and the training of Mozambican forces, with the support of Rwandan and other forces (...) with the ultimate goal being to train our forces to maintain security independently," Chapo said.
On 30 September, Patrick Pouyanné, the president of TotalEnergies, announced that LNG production from the mega-project in Mozambique, which has been suspended since 2021, is expected to commence in 2029, and that the oil company has presented the government with a new development plan.
"Everything is ready. In fact, we are remobilising on the ground. Still, the last part, I would say, of the decision to officially lift the “force majeure”, is that there are discussions, the government has to approve the updated development plan, because we need to update it with a new target in terms of the start of operations," announced Patrick Pouyanné at a meeting in New York with investors to present data on the French oil company's global performance.
This is a $20 billion (€17 billion) investment led by TotalEnergies in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, with an estimated production forecast of 13 mtpa of LNG, which, according to the oil company, is currently 40% developed.
In 2021, TotalEnergies, the leader of the consortium in Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin, triggered the "force majeure" clause and suspended activities due to the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, when the construction of a plant to produce and export natural gas was underway.
"It will be in 2029 that we plan to start operations and, of course, update the budget with the impact of “force majeure” (...). So this issue is being evaluated and, I think, we will move forward very quickly," Pouyanné said.
Since October 2017, the province has been facing attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State, which have caused more than a million displaced people and caused 349 deaths in 2024 alone, according to data from the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a US government institution that analyses conflicts in Africa.
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