- The decline in the prevalence of armed violence in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, should allow work on a major natural gas liquefaction plant in the region to restart in the first half of 2023, according to the chief economist at Standard Bank, Faúsio Mussá.
- TotalEnergies called force majeur at the plant in April last year following violent insurgent attacks in the immediate region of their Alfungi plant which was under construction. Read more
“The improvement of security conditions may dictate the resumption of construction work on the TotalEnergies complex, in the Afungi peninsula, in the first half of next year,” reads an analysis note authored by Mussá and distributed by the bank this Tuesday.
The project represents the largest investment in Africa, worth some €20 billion, but work was suspended in April 2021 after armed groups attacked the nearby town of Palma, killing an as yet still unknown number of residents and foreign workers.
Related news: Eni to start exporting gas from their offshore floating LNG platform in Mozambique
“Our expectation is that the project will start exporting gas from 2026, which means that between the end of this year and the first half of 2023 TotalEnergies should resume construction,” Mussá stresses in the note.
The return to work had been planned for this year, but the company then announced that it wanted to see the safety situation normalised in the region, and said that it would reassess matters towards the end of 2022.
“In principle, it is likely that the Final Investment Decision” of another adjacent project, overseen by Exxon, “will be taken within a maximum period of 12 months after the resumption” of that of Total of France, concluded Mussá.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Source: LUSA
