- First time the Head of State sets a public deadline for lifting the force majeure
- Ongoing attacks in Cabo Delgado and a US court case could derail the timeline
By MOZTIMES
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – President Daniel Chapo told Japanese media last week that TotalEnergies will resume construction of its Mozambique LNG liquefaction plant in September. Work has been suspended since April 2021, after Islamist insurgents attacked the town of Palma, about 10 kilometres from the Afungi peninsula where the project is based.
Nikkei Asia interviewed Chapo in Tokyo while participating in TICAD 9, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. He is quoted as saying, “We do think that this month, August, we are going to get everything ready so the project can start again.” He pointed to September as the target for resumption.
The government and TotalEnergies have long discussed restarting the project, but have avoided fixing dates. This is the first time a specific public deadline has been announced.
Yet, as Chapo promised a restart, jihadist militants carried out fresh attacks in the Palma district, threatening the timeline. In mid-August, they raided the villages of Maputo and Zâmbia, about 30 kilometres south of Afungi. Such proximity to the LNG site had not been seen since Mocímboa da Praia was retaken in August 2021 with the support of Rwandan troops. Until now, violence had been confined to more distant areas.
In the same interview, Chapo admitted that security is critical: “We are working together so that security can be ensured and the project can be implemented”, he said.
Beyond the insurgency, the project also faces a legal challenge in Washington, DC, where environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against US government financing for Mozambique LNG. The court case could further delay TotalEnergies’ calendar.
Valued at around US$20 billion, Mozambique LNG is the country’s largest-ever foreign direct investment and will be the first large-scale gas production project in the Rovuma Basin. The suspension pushed back the expected start of production to 2029, a target that depends on construction resuming this year.
Mozambique LNG is almost three times larger than Coral Sul FLNG, operated by Italy’s Eni, whose floating platform started production in October 2022. (MT)
