MOZAMBIQUE President Filipe Nyusi has given the green light for TotalEnergies to resume its $20bn liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Cabo Delgado, which was halted in 2021 due to insurgent attacks on civilians. The insurgency has claimed thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017 and disrupted multibillion-dollar investments, including the LNG project in which TotalEnergies has a 26.5 percent stake.
Speaking at a mining and energy conference in Maputo, Nyusi said that the security situation in northern Mozambique made it possible for TotalEnergies to resume activities. He added that Mozambique wanted to take advantage of the current high prices of LNG and the global shift towards cleaner sources of energy.
‘The working environment and security in northern Mozambique makes it possible for Total to resume its activities any time,’ Nyusi said.
However, TotalEnergies has said that a decision to restart the project would depend on assurances of security and human rights in Cabo Delgado and ‘a clear vision of the costs of the project after an interruption of more than two years – which must be maintained and not increase.’
‘The restart is a decision of Mozambique LNG, not a decision of TotalEnergies, which only owns 26.5 percent of the project. Given the context, the decision will have to be unanimous and TotalEnergies’ position is that it is appropriate to take the time to have the expected assurances before considering a possible restart,’ a TotalEnergies spokesperson said.
TotalEnergies had earlier said that the situation in Cabo Delgado had ‘improved significantly’ after African countries deployed troops to help Mozambique security forces deal with the insurgency in 2021.
TotalEnergies’ Chairman and Chief Executive, Patrick Pouyanne, had visited Mozambique two months ago to meet Nyusi and review the security and humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado. After Pouyanne’s visit,
TotalEnergies announced the appointment of Jean-Christophe Rufin, an expert in humanitarian action and human rights, to independently assess the situation in Cabo Delgado province. This assessment would help TotalEnergies and its partners decide if conditions were right to resume the project.
TotalEnergies declined to give details on when Rufin’s assessment report would be completed.