TotalEnergies Set to Resume Mozambique LNG Project in Early 2024, Say Sources
French energy company TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) intends to resume its long-postponed $20 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique in the first quarter of the upcoming year, according to two sources who spoke to Reuters late on Friday.
The project has been on hold since 2021 due to a violent insurgency by Islamic State-linked militants in the Cabo Delgado region, prompting TotalEnergies to declare force majeure and suspend construction.
In September, TotalEnergies’ CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, announced plans to restart the project before the end of the current year, citing improved security conditions with the assistance of a regional military force, including Rwanda.
“TotalEnergies have indicated that they want to restart their Mozambique LNG project in January 2024,” a government source close to the process said, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The ongoing violence in the northern Mozambican province has claimed thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017, disrupting multibillion-dollar investments including the $20 billion LNG project in which TotalEnergies has a 26.5% stake.
“TotalEnergies has asked funders to get approval for the restart of the Mozambique LNG project in the first quarter of 2024,” said a second funding source with direct knowledge of the project.
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The initiative, poised to reshape the economic landscape of the economically challenged southern African nation, has encountered disapproval from environmental activists. In the previous month, these activists called on financial backers to retract their support.
TotalEnergies has not yet responded to a request for comment made during a period when the office is typically inactive.
