Keypoints:
- TotalEnergies aims to restart gas project paused since 2021 jihadist attack
- Security improved, but legal and financial hurdles remain
- First gas production expected by 2029 if funding and stability hold
A LONG-STALLED $20 bn gas project led by TotalEnergies in northern Mozambique is nearing a restart, signalling a major shift for the country’s energy future. Nearly four years after jihadist attacks in Cabo Delgado forced the French energy giant to suspend operations, the Mozambique LNG venture may relaunch as early as this summer, accord
ing to AFP.
Green light expected this summer
Speaking at an energy conference in Tokyo, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné announced the project could restart within months. While the Mozambican government has yet to receive a formal request to lift the force majeure declared in 2021, Energy Minister Estevão Pale confirmed preparations are underway.
‘We’re doing everything we can to meet all conditions for a safe return,’ Pale told Reuters. The French firm pulled out of the area after a deadly siege in Palma, a port town near the project site, by Islamic State-linked militants.
Giant reserves, global ambitions
Mozambique’s offshore fields are estimated to hold over 5,000 billion cubic metres of natural gas—enough to supply Europe for decades. TotalEnergies, which holds a 26.5 percent stake in the project, plans to liquefy more than 13 million tonnes annually from the Golfinho and Atum fields.
Investors once dubbed Mozambique the ‘Qatar of Africa’, and if successful, the relaunch could fuel up to 20 percent of the continent’s LNG output by 2040. Economists project the plant could raise GDP growth to over 10 percent by 2028.
Violence lingers in Cabo Delgado
Since the insurgency erupted in 2017, over 6,000 people have been killed and more than a million displaced. While the security situation has improved thanks to the presence of Rwandan forces backed by EU funding, sporadic attacks persist.
‘The situation has greatly improved,’ Pouyanné said, ‘but incidents still happen.’ Analysts warn that rebel groups have intensified attacks in reaction to resumed project activities.
Legal, financial and climate hurdles
The project has cleared some major hurdles, including a renewed $4.7bn commitment from the US Export-Import Bank. Japanese and Thai investors remain onboard, although Indonesia’s Pertamina has pulled out. European backers are still assessing potential human rights impacts.
In France, prosec
utors have opened a manslaughter investigation into TotalEnergies for allegedly failing to protect subcontractors during the 2021 attack. Meanwhile, environmental groups have labelled the project a ‘carbon bomb’, projecting 10 million tonnes of annual CO₂ emissions.
Outlook: high hopes, higher stakes
Pouyanné says production could begin by 2029 if security and funding conditions hold. Lifting the force majeure remains a key next step, alongside securing additional European and Japanese investment.
The project offers Mozambique the promise of transformation—but it also comes with significant risks. With billions at stake, and the eyes of the world watching, the coming months will determine whether the country can finally turn its gas riches into national growth.
