San Francisco Frontiers - TotalEnergies approves restart of $20-bn Mozambique gas project

TotalEnergies said in a statement the "force majeure" halt to the Mozambique LNG project would be lifted but added that Mozambique's government would need to approve the move before work could restart.

It said Mozambican President Daniel Chapo had been notified of the decision on Friday.

The statement confirmed a news report from local outlet Zitmar.

The Mozambique LNG project, the largest private investment in Africa's energy infrastructure, is expected to generate thousands of jobs and help make the country one of the world's biggest LNG exporters.

Work was frozen after jihadists launched a deadly attack on the site of the project near the Tanzanian border in March 2021, resulting in around 800 deaths.

No further attacks on that level have happened since, but the jihadist insurrection has not stopped -- the UN said there had been some 633 attacks against civilians this year.

Chapo, on a visit to the United States on Saturday, was to go to the headquarters of US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, which is weighing a different gas project in Mozambique.

The head of ExxonMobil's operations in Mozambique said in September that the US company's decision on the Rovuma LNG project was linked to TotalEnergies lifting its halt.

The French oil and gas company is the lead partner in the Mozambique LNG consortium, with a 26.5 percent stake. The consortium has said it could start making the first LNG deliveries four years after the project is started.

The African Development Bank in 2018 estimated that Mozambique has more than five trillion cubic metres of gas -- enough to supply Britain, France, Germany and Italy for 20 years.

W.Carter--SFF