TotalEnergies has officially postponed the Mozambique LNG export project’s start-up date from the first quarter of 2027 to the first quarter of 2029.
TotalEnergies has officially postponed the Mozambique LNG export project’s start-up date from the first quarter of 2027 to the first quarter of 2029.
Last year, the French major expected that Mozambique LNG alongside with its other involved projects i.e. Qatar NFE/NFS, Papua LNG and Rio Grande LNG will start LNG production by 2028.
TotalEnergies has also revised up the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) cost of the project’s gas treatment and liquefaction facilities to more than US$ 10 billion while the cost had been initially estimated between US$ 8 billion to US$ 9 billion.
However, TotalEnergies’ CEO Patrick Pouyanne has reiterated that the project “remains profitable” and his company remains “committed" to it as he plans to meet Mozambique’s new president (who is to be elected this week) to discuss the project’s development status and future plans.
Mozambique’s government has repeatedly asked Total to restart the country’s LNG project as the African country wants to take advantage of the current high prices of LNG and the global shift towards cleaner energy sources.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies has said that a decision to restart the project depends on assurances of security in the region, settlement of differences with contractors over the project’s extra cost, and getting green light on the project’s financing from credit agencies.
It seems that the cost considerations and financing are now the last issues before restarting Mozambique LNG as there had recently been "progress on security" and “70% to 80% of a $14 billion financing package underpinning the project has been reconfirmed by financiers”.
The operator wants to have “a clear vision of the costs of the project after an interruption of more than two years - which must be maintained and not increase”.
According to the
Global LNG Database®, the 12.88 MMT/Y Mozambique LNG project's construction started by its main EPC contractor CCS JV (McDermott International, Ltd, Saipem and Chiyoda Corporation) in 2019 late.
The project was 21% complete just before suspension after a March 2021 attack on the town of Palma, on the doorstep of the project.
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