{"id":35058,"date":"2023-03-05T10:21:07","date_gmt":"2023-03-05T10:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt"},"modified":"2023-03-05T10:39:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-05T10:39:39","slug":"totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt","title":{"rendered":"Total\u2019s LNG-project revival crucial for Mozambique to pay debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mathew Hill<\/b><\/p>\n

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong><\/span>Mozambique\u2019s ability to keep servicing its rising debt pile depends on the resumption of TotalEnergies SE\u2019s $20 billion liquefied natural gas project, according to S&P Global Ratings.<\/p>\n

The project, once touted as Africa\u2019s biggest private investment, stalled in 2021 following terror attacks by Islamic State-linked rebels in Mozambique\u2019s northeast. Progress in containing the violence has led to speculation that work may resume in the coming months, but TotalEnergies has yet to make a decision.<\/p>\n

Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive officer at the French oil and gas major, said in February he\u2019s in no hurry to resume. Yet Mozambique faces growing debt payments that might be difficult to meet without revenue it had been banking on from the project.<\/p>\n

Yearly coupon payments on the nation\u2019s sole $900 million eurobond jump to 9% from 5% next year. Principal payments of $225 million start from 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really critical for these gas projects to come online and for them to be able to generate the revenue,\u201d Leon Bezuidenhout, sovereign analyst at S&P, said in an interview last week. \u201cEven now there\u2019s still pretty high debt-servicing costs before the ramp up in these eurobond payments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Security situation<\/b><\/p>\n

Foreign troops from Rwanda and a separate deployment from the Southern African Development Community have helped improve the security situation in Cabo Delgado province, where the Mozambique LNG project is located.<\/p>\n

Still, frequent raids by mostly small groups of insurgents have continued as they\u2019re able to evade authorities in densely forested areas. At least 4,668 people have died since the violence started in 2017, according to Cabo Ligado, a website that monitors the war.<\/p>\n

Mozambique\u2019s eurobonds fell 0.8% to 75.2 cents to the dollar in London on Wednesday, the lowest level since Dec. 9. S&P rates the notes at CCC+.<\/p>\n

The International Monetary Fund agreed last year to a $456-million support package after a six-year hiatus, unlocking yet more funds from other concessional lenders including the World Bank.<\/p>\n

That provides some buffer. The IMF views Mozambique\u2019s debt as sustainable even without the revenue from TotalEnergies\u2019 project. While Mozambique in November exported its first LNG cargo from a much smaller floating production platform that Eni SpA built, that revenue won\u2019t cover debt payments, according to Samira Mensah, senior credit analyst at S&P.<\/p>\n

Gradual return<\/b><\/p>\n

At least one supplier to the project is optimistic that the work will gradually start.<\/p>\n

Alessandro Puliti, CEO at Saipem SpA, which has a multibillion-dollar contract for the Mozambique LNG project, told investors last month that he sees a gradual return from July.<\/p>\n

TotalEnergies\u2019 Pouyanne said he\u2019d make a decision to return after a report by experts on the security situation that was due by the end of February.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not if, in our opinion, it\u2019s rather when,\u201d said Mensah. Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has upended global natural gas markets, and European buyers are searching for alternative supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the geopolitical tensions around Ukraine, everybody wants LNG and Russia\u2019s somewhat out of the equation,\u201d Ravi Bhatia, director for Africa at S&P, said in an interview. \u201cThese projects have always been extremely viable. Now it\u2019s even more viable.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mozambique<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mathew Hill Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique\u2019s ability to keep servicing its rising debt pile depends on the resumption of TotalEnergies SE\u2019s $20 billion liquefied natural gas project, according to S&P Global Ratings. The project, once touted as Africa\u2019s biggest private investment, stalled in 2021 following terror attacks by Islamic State-linked rebels in Mozambique\u2019s northeast. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[233,281,283],"class_list":["post-35058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mozambique","tag-mozambique"],"yoast_head":"\nTotal\u2019s LNG-project revival crucial for Mozambique to pay debt - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mozambique\u2019s ability to keep servicing its rising debt pile depends on the resumption of TotalEnergies SE\u2019s $20 billion ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Total\u2019s LNG-project revival crucial for Mozambique to pay debt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mozambique\u2019s ability to keep servicing its rising debt pile depends on the resumption of TotalEnergies SE\u2019s $20 billion ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-05T10:21:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-05T10:39:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1677999085.30.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Total\u2019s LNG-project revival crucial for Mozambique to pay debt\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-05T10:21:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-05T10:39:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt\"},\"wordCount\":553,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1677999085.30.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mozambique\",\"Mozambique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/totals-lng-project-revival-crucial-for-mozambique-to-pay-debt\",\"name\":\"Total\u2019s LNG-project revival crucial for Mozambique to pay debt - 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