Visit of Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas; Housing and Urban Affairs of India; H.E. Mr. Hardeep S. Puri, to Mozambique

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Visit of Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas; Housing and Urban Affairs of India; H.E. Mr. Hardeep S. Puri, to Mozambique

7:09 CAT | 30 Oct 2023

Photo: @HardeepSPuri/ X

The Hon’ble Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas; Housing and Urban Affairs of India; H.E. Mr. Hardeep S. Puri, is visiting Mozambique from October 28-31, 2023. This is the first visit of H.E. Mr. Hardeep S. Puri, to this country. Hon’ble Minister Puri is accompanied by high officials of the Government of India besides the CMD of ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Oil India Limited (OIL).

#WATCH | Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri received a warm and traditional welcome upon arrival in Mozambique’s Maputo yesterday. pic.twitter.com/goopNZqHb0

— ANI (@ANI) October 29, 2023

2. The visit assumes significance since Indian public sector companies (with majority share holdings of the Government of India) namely, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), Bharat Petroresources Limited (BPRL) and Oil India Limited (OIL), have the largest share of investment of 30% in the Area 1 of the Rovuma gas fields in Cabo Delgado that is being operated by Total Energies of France with 26.5% share of investment. The Project for exploitation of the estimated gas reserves of 175 trillion cubic feet and subsequent conversion to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has been stalled since April 2021 following the heinous and barbaric terrorist attack at Palma in March 2021.

3. Hon’ble Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas; Housing and Urban Affairs of India; H.E. Mr. Hardeep S. Puri, is scheduled to meet his Mozambican counterpart, H.E. Mr. Carlos Zacarias, Hon’ble Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy of the Government of the Republic of Mozambique; and H.E. Mr. Ernesto Max Tonela, Hon’ble Minister for Economy and Finance of the Government of the Republic of Mozambique, besides visiting the project site in Palma.

4. The brief but high priority visit of the Hon’ble Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas; Housing and Urban Affairs of India; H.E. Mr. Hardeep S. Puri, to Mozambique would provide the opportunity to both India and Mozambique to discuss strategic aspects of the aforesaid LNG Project with a view to recommence the project at an early date.

We also discussed ways to further enhance the bilateral hydrocarbons trade, including LNG, between 🇮🇳 & 🇲🇿 which has already increased more than two & half times in the last 5 years from US$ 687.71 million in FY 2018-19 to US$ 1821.39 million in FY 2022-23 pic.twitter.com/n5JLHtnS0a

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) October 29, 2023

During our meeting, I also invited Mozambique to become a member of #GlobalBiofuelsAlliance which was recently launched by PM @narendramodi Ji at the successful #G20Summit2023 during India’s G20 Presidency.

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) October 29, 2023

On my way to the site of our LNG Project in Cabo Del Gabo province of Mozambique. The $20 billion project, in which 3 Indian PSUs hold 30% stake, holds immense strategic importance for India’s journey towards energy-sufficiency under leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji. pic.twitter.com/mDROl4uHNu

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) October 29, 2023

Mozambique is 2nd largest upstream investment destination for India.
In my meeting with Maxime Rabilloud of @TotalEnergies in Maputo we discussed resumption of operations at $20 billion LNG Project, largest project investment in Africa with huge potential for 🇮🇳’s energy security pic.twitter.com/QaiDn7LImo

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) October 29, 2023

Source: High Commission of India in Mozambique / Press Release