Africa-Press – Mozambique. Concessionaires invested US$18.4 billion (€17.2 billion) in oil and gas exploration in Mozambique over five years, but in 2022 this investment fell to less than half, official data indicate this Tuesday.
The report ” 2018-2022 Oil and Gas Investment in Mozambique Statistics “, released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), indicates that, of this total, concessionaires invested US$15.3 billion (€14.3 billion) in field development work, and the remainder in research, evaluation and studies, production and the decommissioning of wells.
Overall, in these works, concessionaires invested, in 2022, more than US$2.06 billion (€1.9 billion), less than half (-55%) of the record of almost US$4.6 billion (€4 .3 billion) in 2021 or US$4.5 billion (€4.2 billion) in 2020.
“This drop is justified, in part, by the start [in the second half of 2022] of offshore gas production in the Rovuma Basin, given that capital costs have significantly decreased, especially related to the floating liquefied natural gas platform ( FLNG),” the INE explains.
The report uses information from the National Petroleum Institute (INP) and covers all active hydrocarbon exploration licenses in Mozambique until 2022.
“In 2022, expenses incurred in the production phase reached a total of US$368.9 million (€344.8 million), almost triple that recorded in 2021 and is also the highest value since 2018. This trend is explained mainly by the start of production and export of gas in Cabo Delgado, in the offshore project in the Rovuma Basin, in the Coral Sul project,” the INE adds.
Area 4 in the Rovuma Basin, in the north of the country, is operated by Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint venture co-owned by ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC (China), which holds a 70% stake in the concession contract. , whose natural gas production began in 2022. Galp, Kogas (South Korea) and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (Mozambique) each hold a 10% stake.
Eni, the concessionaire of Area 4 of Rovuma, is already discussing with the Mozambican government the development of a second floating platform, a copy of the first and called Coral Norte, to increase gas extraction, a source from the Italian oil company.
This plan involves, in particular, the acquisition of a second FNLG floating platform, for the Coral North area, identical to the one that has been operating in gas extraction, since mid-2022, in the Coral South area.
A previously released document, prepared by the Mozambican firm Consultec for the oil company Eni, indicates that this is an investment of seven billion dollars (6.3 billion euros), subject to approval by the Mozambican Government.
If the schedule goes as expected, the platform will begin production in the second half of 2027, meaning it could start even before onshore projects, which depend on security implications due to the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado.
Coral Norte will be anchored 10 kilometres north of Coral Sul, whose production started in November last year, becoming the first project to take advantage of the large reserves in the Rovuma basin.
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