Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said today that he received from the leader of TotalEnergies the guarantee of the French oil company's "commitment" to resuming the Liquefied Natural Gas project in Cabo Delgado, after talking to Patrick Pouyanné.
"During the conversation, Pouyanné reaffirmed TotalEnergies' commitment to resuming the project, currently suspended since 2021 due to security challenges in the region," wrote Daniel Chapo, in a message on his official X social media account.
The contact with the CEO of TotalEnergies took place on Monday and according to Daniel Chapo, it allowed him to address "the company's progress and commitment to the development of the natural gas exploration project in Cabo Delgado", suspended almost four years ago due to the attacks. terrorists in that northern province.
"From our side, we reaffirm the importance of the project for Mozambique's economic growth, which is why efforts are being made to ensure the stability necessary for its implementation," said the Mozambican head of state.
The president of TotalEnergies assured last October that almost 80% of the 14 billion dollars needed for the gas megaproject in Cabo Delgado were guaranteed and that he intended to meet in the same month, in Maputo, with the new Mozambican President, to be elected in the general elections on October 9th.
The meeting ended up not taking place at that time, a period since then marked by strong social unrest and post-election demonstrations contesting the announced results, which gave the victory to Daniel Chapo.
At a meeting with investors in October, Patrick Pouyanné acknowledged "progress on the ground" in the fight against terrorism, which in 2021 led TotalEnergies to suspend its investment in Cabo Delgado, and highlighted the "alliance" that Mozambique has with Rwanda, which ensures security in the project installation area, on the Afungi peninsula.
"There is an election in Mozambique [general elections on October 9], a new President will arrive. I myself intend to visit Mozambique at the end of the month, to meet with him, to discuss how the new Mozambican authorities intend to maintain this alliance with Rwanda", announced Patrick Pouyanné, a visit that did not take place at the time.
Pouyanné added at the same time that the project for that area, "inherited from Anadarko" -- TotalEnergies bought in 2019 the 26.5% stake of that oil company in Mozambique LNG (Area 1) for 3.9 billion dollars (3, 7 billion euros) -, had a "quite large" financing package, of around 14 billion dollars (13.4 billion euros), and that, of this total, "70 to 80%" is "confirmed" by the financiers.
"They are committed to this and we are waiting for three of them to also confirm their commitment, because it is important. And some of them are in Western countries where, I would say, the position regarding the financing of energy projects, of oil and gas projects has changed. But they all tell us, they repeat to us, that they are committed to the contract they signed.
The objective, he insisted, is to start production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in Afungi in 2029, which implied the forecast of "restarting the project in 2024", which did not happen.
Mozambique has three approved development projects to explore the natural gas reserves of the Rovuma basin, classified as among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.
TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium, is currently developing the construction of a plant in Afungi, near Palma, for the production and export of natural gas.
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