Mozambique: Natural gas exports almost catch up with coal in 2024

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Mozambique: Natural gas exports almost catch up with coal in 2024

12:52 CAT | 09 Jun 2025

File photo: Eni

Mozambique sold US$1.967 billion of natural gas in 2024, up 14% in one year, practically catching up with coal as the top export, according to data from the central bank consulted by Lusa today.

“The growth in natural gas revenues is associated with the increase in gas exports from Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, in a context in which the average price on the international market fell by 15%,” the Bank of Mozambique’s 2024 balance of payments report states.
Meanwhile, exports of coal, historically Mozambique’s most exported product, fell in 2024 to US$2.006 billion (€1.759 billion).

“The drop of around 10% is due to the reduction in quality, due to the failure to complete the restructuring project at the factory [in Tete], with the added problem of the price on the international market having fallen by 19.0%,” the document asserts.

Overall, Mozambican exports in 2024 fell by 0.8% compared to the previous year, to US$8.211 billion (€7.202 billion), while imports fell by 8.8%, to US$8.375 billion (€7.346 billion).

A study by the consultancy firm Deloitte concluded in 2024 that Mozambique’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) reserves represent potential revenues of US$100 billion (€87.7 billion), highlighting the country’s international importance in the energy transition.

Mozambique has three mega-development projects approved to exploit the Rovuma Basin LNG reserves, ranked among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado, including one by TotalEnergies, still on hold due to safety concerns, and another by ExxonMobil, awaiting a final investment decision, both on the Afungi peninsula.

The only one in production since mid-2022 is the one operated by Eni, the concessionaire for Area 4 of Rovuma, which has since moved forward with a second floating platform, a copy of the first (Coral South) and called Coral North, to increase gas extraction.

Mozambique expects to raise US$23 billion (€20.1 billion) over 30 years from the Coral North project, the second platform owned by oil company Eni for LNG production in the Rovuma Basin, according to the government.

“According to the development plan approved over the next 25 years, 30 years that are part of the construction and assembly of this system, the implementation of which will last 25 years, (…) the government will collect US$23 billion in revenue, taxes and other contributions,” Government spokesperson Inocêncio Impissa stated on April 11.

In statements to journalists, Impissa added at the time that, in addition, the project, approved days earlier by the government, “also foresees the provision of natural gas to the domestic market in the proportion of 25% of the total gas to be produced, in accordance with national legislation, and 100% of condensate for energy generation”, allowing the “development of industrialization projects in Mozambique”.

“The project will also generate 1,400 jobs for Mozambicans, with the implementation of a succession plan to increase the qualifications and greater availability of Mozambican labour in the oil and gas sector,” he added.

The Mozambican government approved in early April an investment of US$7.2 billion (€6.315 billion) for the Coral Norte LNG project, with a production forecast of 3.5 million tonnes per year and start-up in 2028.

Source: Lusa