Africa-Press – Mozambique. The meeting between the Mozambican executive and managers of the French oil company will serve to discuss the details of the conditions required by the group to resume the natural gas exploration project in Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin.
The government will shortly meet the Total energy company to address security issues related to the liquefied natural gas project in the Rovuma Basin, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Max Tonela said on Thursday (September 10).
The minister’s statement follows the advances that the joint forces of Mozambique, Rwanda and the SADC have been recording in their fight against terrorism in the North Operational Theatre.
These advances open new perspectives on the return of the consortium led by Total, which suspended project activities on the grounds of force majeure after the attack on the town of Palma.
“We have a mechanism in place for the discussion with Total’s management on matters associated with the implementation of the project,” Minister Tonela said. “One of the conditions established for the project’s resumption is the guarantee of security, stability and the population’s return to the areas where the project will be implemented.”
“We anticipate meetings to discuss the details shortly, but we realised that, a few days ago, the CEO of TotaEnergiesl already mentioned that he expects the project to start operating in 2026, which means that there are indications that the project will resume activities next year,” he detailed.
Ernesto Max Tonela’s explanation came roughly 24 hours after the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, said at a conference organised by the African Development Bank, one of the project’s financiers, that it was hoped that work on the Afungi peninsula will resume before the one-year deadline given by Total to the Government of Mozambique to solve the security problem.
“I think the expected delay in the works will be reduced, because we have indicated one year as the time needed to allow the project to restart. But looking at the situation, today, I think that will not be the case. We are doing our best,” Adriano Maleiane said on Tuesday (28-09).
“The outlook is good because peace is holding. Displaced people are returning to their homes, and we are now in the process of creating conditions for voluntarily returning home and not simply wishing to come home one day,” Maleiane added.
French major TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 project in the north of the country, suspended work on the facility near Palma on March 24, the day the city was attacked by insurgents, and a month later announced the indefinite suspension of the entire project.
Estimated to be worth more than US$20 billion, TotaEnergies’ gas extraction mega-project is the largest private investment underway in Africa, and is supported by several international financial institutions. It foresees the construction of industrial units and a new ‘Gas City’ between Palma and the Afungi peninsula.
By
António Tiua
