TotalEnergies seeks Mozambique nod to lift force majeure on LNG project

TotalEnergies will seek Mozambique’s approval to lift a force majeure declaration on its $20bn (R361.49bn) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project there and resume construction by midsummer, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Tuesday.

Covered by force majeure since 2021 after insurgent attacks, the project includes development of the Golfinho and Atum natural gas fields in the Offshore Area 1 concession and the building of a two-train liquefaction plant.

“The security situation has improved,” Pouyanne said on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference. “It will be up to the government of Mozambique to approve lifting of this force majeure.”

The plant will have a capacity of 13.12-million tonnes per year (tpy).

TotalEnergies is the operator with a stake of 26.5%, followed by Mitsui & Co with 20%, while Mozambique’s state-owned ENH has 15%. Indian state firms and Thailand’s PTTEP own the rest.

In the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea, the French energy major is also looking at reducing the capital expenditure of its LNG project by 20%-25%, Pouyanne said.

The second major gas project in the impoverished nation, the 5.4-million-metric-tpy Papua LNG is a joint venture of TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Santos and state-owned Kumul Petroleum.

Reuters