Maputo, Nov. 13, 2025 (Lusa) - Oil and natural gas exploration earned Mozambique US$67.64 million (€58.5 million) through September, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
According to information on budget execution from January to September 2025, the accumulated revenue for nine months amounts to US$24.68 million (€21.4 million) from the Mining Production Tax and US$42.96 million (€37.1 million) from the “Oil Profit” component, which is equivalent to the portion of oil produced that exceeds the “cost of oil production”, attributed to the Mozambican State.
Under the legislation that created the Mozambique Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSM), which will be fed with 40% of natural gas revenues, the document also refers to accumulated revenues from 2022 to 2024 of US$164.99 million (€142.7 million).
Thus, since 2022, these revenues total US$232.33 million (€201 million), deposited in the Transitional Oil and Gas Revenue account at the central bank, which is already operationalising the future management of the Sovereign Wealth Fund, pending only the signing of the agreement with the Government, according to the governor.
"Operational preparation for the management of the Mozambique Sovereign Wealth Fund is awaiting only the signing of the Management Agreement with the Ministry of Finance," said Governor Rogério Zandamela on 5 November, regarding priorities among the central bank's institutional reforms.
On 15 December 2023, parliament approved the creation of the sovereign wealth fund (FSM) with revenues from natural gas exploration, which in the 2040s are expected to reach US$6 billion (€5.19 billion) annually.
The fund was established in April of the following year and since then the change in the legal framework has provided for the allocation of 40% of tax revenues and capital gains from gas and oil exploration to the fund, with the remaining 60% to finance the state budget.
Mozambique's minister of finance, Carla Loveira, said on 29 October that "all the instruments" necessary for the "full operationalisation" of the FSM "are ready", following the signing of the management agreement.
"The signing of the management agreement between the Public Treasury and the Bank of Mozambique is in its final stages, which will allow the Fund to become operational and begin full capitalisation based on the dictates established by the FSM Investment Policy," said Carla Loveira, speaking at the opening of the Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Finance, which is taking place in Maputo.
The Government expects to sign this management agreement, the final step in this process, in the coming weeks, according to previous information.
According to Carla Loveira, data for the 23rd of October 2025 "show a transitional account balance of approximately US$204.5 million," equivalent to €176.8 million, in terms of gas revenues channelled under the legislation.
"The sovereign wealth fund was designed with the purpose of ensuring good governance, transparency and accountability in the management of revenues from natural resources, preventing their volatile or unproductive use," Carla Loveira recalled.
Mozambique has three approved mega-development projects for the exploration of LNG reserves in the Rovuma basin, ranked among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado, including one by TotalEnergies, for 13 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), currently in the recovery phase following suspension due to terrorist attacks in the region, and another by ExxonMobil (18 mtpa), which is awaiting a final investment decision, both on the Afungi peninsula.
In addition, in ultra-deep waters in the same basin, Area 4, a consortium led by Italy's Eni, has been operating since 2022 at the Coral South floating unit and is now moving on to the second unit, Coral North, which is expected to start production in 2028.
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