Mozambique Rovuma LNG Venture (MRV) announced that the government has approved the project, which will produce, liquefy and market natural gas from three reservoirs located in the Area 4 block offshore Mozambique, two of which straddle the boundary with neighboring Area 1.
The project’s LNG SPAs for 100% of the LNG capacity for trains 1 and 2 have been submitted to the government for approval, which together will produce more than 15 MMT/Y of LNG.
During the production phase, the Rovuma LNG project expects to provide up to 17,000 MT/Y of LPG from Area 4 resources, which is currently about 50% of the country’s LPG imports, and will dramatically improve access to energy. “The Area 4 partners also plan to distribute up to 5,000 LPG burners and cooking stoves in the Afungi area to replace the burning of wood.”
ExxonMobil will lead construction and operation of LNG facilities and related facilities on behalf of MRV, and Eni will lead construction and operation of upstream facilities.

Backgrouds:

On 10 Jul. 2018, Partners ExxonMobil and Eni announced that they have submitted the development plan for Phase 1 of the Rovuma LNG project to the government of Mozambique. The plan details the proposed design and construction of two LNG trains with a production capacity of 7.6 MMT/Y each.
ExxonMobil will lead the construction and operation of the LNG plant on behalf of the joint venture. Eni will head the construction and operation of upstream facilities, enabling the gas produced offshore in the Area 4 block to be processed onshore. A final investment decision (FID) by the Area 4 joint venture partners is scheduled for 2019, with LNG production slated for 2024.
Marketing activities are progressing, with negotiations on sales and purchase agreements underway, targeting completion in parallel with the development plan approval process, the project’s partners said while didn’t say when they expect approval from the government.
Meanwhile, Mozambique's national petroleum institute (INP) vice-president of exploration Augusto Macuvele said that the government will approve a development plan for the Rovuma LNG project by October as he expects the review of the proposal to take three months.
On 28 Dec. 2018, ExxonMobil announced that Mozambique’s Area 4 co-venture participants have secured LNG offtake commitments from affiliated buyer entities of the partners, “a key milestone enabling the participants to rapidly move toward a final investment decision in 2019 on the first phase of the Rovuma LNG project.”
However, those commitments are subject to the conclusion of fully-termed agreements, which will be finalized and initialed in the next weeks, and the approval of the government of Mozambique, the project’s operator added.