TotalEnergies has delayed its $20bn LNG project in Mozambique due to security and political issues, as reported by Ian Johnston, Monica Mark, and David Pilling of the Financial Times. They write:
TotalEnergies has further delayed its troubled $20bn liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique as security concerns and political uncertainty dog one of Africa’s biggest energy investments.
The LNG development, which has the potential to transform Mozambique’s economy, was launched in 2020. It was Africa’s largest foreign direct investment project when it was announced.
But the company activated a contractual get-out, known as force majeure, in 2021 after Islamist insurgents killed dozens of people including foreign workers. The attack was near a company site, where gas was planned to be converted into liquid, in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province.
Plans to restart the project by the end of 2024 have slipped after violence flared following October’s disputed presidential election, putting at risk a goal to begin production in 2029. […]
Cabo Delgado, on Mozambique’s Indian Ocean coast, is ideally located to meet growing demand for LNG in Asian markets “as opposed to Atlantic-facing projects”, said James Waddell, an analyst at Energy Aspects.
“This project remains profitable because there is a portfolio, in particular, of LNG sales, which is quite attractive,” Pouyanné said in October.
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