Mozambique moves forward in natural gas exploration

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Mozambique moves forward in natural gas exploration

11:25 CAT | 11 Aug 2017

DW (File photo)

Yesterday, the Mozambican government and operators Eni and Anadarko signed concession contracts for the Liquefied Natural Gas Maritime Terminal in Areas 1 and 4 of the Rovuma Basin in the north of the country.

The agreements allow the construction of infrastructure for the extraction of natural gas in the Rovuma Basin. They also include special licenses regarding multinationals Eni and Anadarko.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Hydrocarbons Institute, Omar Mitha, told DW Africa that offshore LNG production is expected to begin in 2022.

In Area 4, Eni is expected production is set at “3.5 million tonnes per year only on the offshore floating vessel; onshore it will be 10 million tonnes per year, while in Anadarko [Area 1] we are looking at 12 million tons per year,” Mitha explained.

The management of the infrastructures in areas 1 and 4 will be jointly coordinated, according to Fabio Castiglioni, head of Italian oil company’s Mozambique operations. “This approach aims at ensuring efficiency in cost management while at the same time promoting synergies in operations,” he said on Thursday (10.08) during the contract signing ceremony.

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Benefits

According to Mozambican Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Leticia Klemens, the agreements are an “important” step towards the start of liquefied natural gas production and of other projects that use liquefied natural gas, such as fertilisers and electricity.

Mozambicans should benefit from natural gas, and the minister said that the government would strive to ensure “the incorporation of visible local content in all development stages of projects associated with Rovuma natural gas”.

Anadarko’s vice president for International Government Relations John Grant said that the company would “work with the government in order to maximise the opportunities that this project will bring to the industrialisation of northern Mozambique”.

Resettlement of the population

One of the problems major projects raise is resettlement.

The Eni representative said that his company would make every effort to ensure that the resettlement project in Area 4 takes place “in strict compliance with the law, the approved plan and the applicable international standards, so that it is also an opportunity to improve the social and economic conditions of the families affected”.

The resettlement process is expected to begin later this year.

Source: Deutsche Welle