TotalEnergies and its partners are close to restarting construction and engineering work on the huge $20-billion LNG export facility in Mozambique after the companies lifted the four-year-long force majeure on the project.
The French supermajor and its joint venture partners lifted the force majeure in a notice sent to the government of Mozambique on Friday, a press officer for TotalEnergies has told Reuters.
The restart of the project hinges on Mozambican government approval and an updated budget and schedule.
“Before fully relaunching the project, Mozambique’s council of ministers needs to approve an addendum to the plan of development,” TotalEnergies press office said.
The $20-billion LNG export project in Mozambique led by French supermajor TotalEnergies was halted four years ago due to a deteriorated security situation. The project site is close to the town of Palma in the Cabo Delgado province, where Islamic State-affiliated militants have been active for years.
In the spring of 2021, following Islamist militant attacks in towns close to the site, TotalEnergies declared force majeure and suspended works on the project, which was Africa’s largest foreign investment when announced.
Since 2021, TotalEnergies has waited for several conditions to be met to take a positive decision on resuming work on the project. The goal to achieve first LNG production has slipped, first to 2027, and later, to 2029.
Initially, works on the Mozambique LNG project were set to restart by the end of 2024.
But plans slipped amid a disputed presidential election in Mozambique at the end of 2024, continued violence, and concerns about the security situation.
It appears that the project is now nearing restart.
However, the four years of hiatus and delays have likely hiked the costs of the Mozambique LNG project by as much as $4 billion, India’s Bharat Petroleum, a minority shareholder in the project, estimated last year.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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