What You Need to Know
Mozambique’s Minister of Energy, Estevão Pale, announced that China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) will commence hydrocarbon exploration in March. The exploration will involve drilling up to six blocks in the Rovuma Basin, following the sixth licensing round initiated in 2021. The government aims to attract further investment in the oil sector as it continues to develop its natural gas,
Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s Minister of Energy, Estêvão Pale, has confirmed that state-run China National Offshore Oil Co (CNOOC) will begin hydrocarbon exploration in March, drilling up to six blocks from the concession awarded in the sixth licensing round, launched in 2021.
“They will start very soon. In March, they will begin preparations to commence exploration,” said the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Estêvão Pale, speaking to journalists at the Mining Indaba conference, which has been taking place since Monday in Cape Town, South Africa.
“At this moment, we are in the initial phase, with five to six more blocks,” Minister Pale added, referring to the wells to be drilled by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in deep waters of the Rovuma Basin, in the north of the country.
The previous Mozambican Government approved, on 26 March 2024, five concession contract terms for hydrocarbon production — essentially natural gas — in the country, the then spokesperson of the Council of Ministers announced at the time.
These contracts relate to the offshore blocks of Save (S6-A and S6-B) and Angoche (A6-G, A6-D and A6-E), with CNOOC Hong Kong and the National Hydrocarbons Company (ENH) as concessionaires, Filimão Suaze said in Maputo following the cabinet meeting. The contracts were signed in the same year but have not yet advanced to the drilling phase.
Mozambique: Government and CNOOC sign five hydrocarbon contracts – AIM
China’s CNOOC signs oil exploration, production contracts with Mozambique – Reuters
“Within the framework of implementing the mineral resources policy (…), the Government of Mozambique continued with actions aimed at attracting further investment into the oil sector,” the Government spokesperson added at the time.
In December 2022, Mozambique’s National Petroleum Institute (INP) announced the award of these five offshore blocks to CNOOC, following the sixth licensing round for gas and oil exploration, launched on 25 November 2021.
That sixth licensing round covered 16 blocks: five in the Rovuma Basin, seven in Angoche, two in the Zambezi Delta and two in Save, totalling more than 92,000 square kilometres.
One of the regions, the Rovuma Basin, located offshore beneath the seabed off the coast of Cabo Delgado (in the north of the country), already has areas allocated.
The current Minister of Energy, Estêvão Pale, further assured Lusa at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town that, for now, Mozambique has no plans for a new licensing round of oil and gas blocks.
“Not at the moment, because we believe there are still many areas available for direct negotiations that were part of the last licensing round and were not developed. We now have the opportunity to continue discussions and see whether we can find another potential partner,” he said.
Mozambique has three approved development projects to exploit the natural gas reserves of the Rovuma Basin, ranked among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.
The Coral Sul project, operated by Eni, has been the only one in operation since 2022. Last October, investment was approved for a second floating extraction platform, known as Coral Norte, in a US$7.2 billion (€6.2 billion) investment, which from 2028 will allow production to double to 7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas.
After four years of suspension due to terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado, the US$20 billion (€17.4 billion) Mozambique LNG project (Area 1), operated by TotalEnergies, officially resumed last January and is expected to produce up to 13 mtpa from 2029. This will be followed by the US$30 billion (€26.1 billion) Rovuma LNG project (Area 4), operated by ExxonMobil, with 18 mtpa planned after 2030, for which the final investment decision is expected this year.
The Rovuma Basin is a significant area for natural gas exploration, with Mozambique holding some of the largest reserves globally. The government has been actively working to attract foreign investment, particularly in the oil and gas sector, to capitalize on these resources. CNOOC’s involvement marks a crucial step in advancing Mozambique’s hydrocarbon production capabilities, following previous contracts signed in 2022 for offshore blocks. The region has faced challenges, including security issues, but the government remains optimistic about future developments and partnerships.
