Maputo, Nov. 7, 2025 (Lusa) - Oil company Sasol this week made a trial shipment of the first batch of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), known as domestic gas in Mozambique, the South African company announced, ahead of the plant's inauguration.
"This first shipment of cooking gas represents the completion of another step in the monetisation of natural gas within the country, which will create greater value for the national market," said Sasol's general director in Mozambique, Ovídio Rodolfo, quoted in a company statement.
The gas will be processed at the new Integrated Processing Plant, the result of the project's Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) located in the district of Inhassoro, Inhambane province, and is intended to supply the domestic market.
"This achievement constitutes a historic milestone that highlights Sasol's role as a pioneering operator in the Mozambican oil and gas industry, reinforcing its contribution to the country's development," says the oil company.
The company explains that the successful loading of the first batch of LPG is an important milestone in the commissioning process of the new infrastructure, whose preparations for its official inauguration are at an advanced stage.
The project by South African oil company Sasol, worth $1 billion (€866 million), is intended to produce cooking gas in Mozambique, given that it already operates gas production in the country at Temane (Inhassoro) and Pande (Govuro), in Inhambane.
Mozambique plans to inaugurate this domestic gas processing and production unit later this month, the first in the country, in the district of Inhassoro, Inhambane province.
"This unit will allow the integrated production of natural gas, LPG, commonly known as cooking gas, and light oil, expanding the national refining capacity," said the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Estevão Pale, in September.
The new unit will allow the country to reduce its dependence on imports of this product, increase the availability of fuels on the domestic market and generate new business opportunities and jobs in the energy sector, according to the government.
The minister indicated that the government also intends to move forward with opening up space to allow the private sector to participate in this gas project and in others related to the areas of fuel and electricity, "but at the same time ensuring that there will be better regulation and supervision by the state".
The foundation stone for the project was laid on 27 March 2022.
"It's been a marvellous project," said Sasol's president and executive director, Simon Baloy, in May.
"This project will not only allow gas to be used to produce energy, but we will also send this gas to Mozambique's second largest power station, the CTT [Temane Thermal Power Station], which is also nearing completion and will also produce LPG [cooking gas cylinders] that will be used and reduce the amount of gas that Mozambique imports," added Baloy.
The PSA project calls for the production of 53 million megajoules of natural gas per year, which will materialise the implementation of the Temane Thermal Power Plant, and the production of 4,000 barrels of light oil per day, according to Mozambique's government.
CTT will have the capacity to produce 450 megawatts of electricity and to process 30,000 tonnes of LPG per year.
Mozambique's government, which previously estimated the start of production at the unit in March, predicts that the country will reduce its imports of bottled gas by 70% with the start of operations at the Inhassoro unit.
SYCO/ADB // ADB.
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