Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Mozambique president allows TotalEnergy to resume work in Cabo Delgado

MAPUTO, Mozambique

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday said it was safe for TotalEnergies  to restart its Cabo Delgado liquefied natural gas (LNG) project that was halted in 2021 following insurgent attacks on civilians.

An Islamic State-linked insurgency in the northern Mozambican province has claimed thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017, disrupting multi-billion-dollar investments, including the $20 billion LNG project in which TotalEnergies has a 26.5% stake.

Nyusi told a mining and energy conference in Maputo Mozambique wanted to take advantage of the current high prices of LNG and the global shift towards cleaner sources of energy.

"The working environment and security in northern Mozambique makes it possible for Total to resume its activities any time,” Nyusi said.

TotalEnergies was not immediately available to comment, but in February it said the situation in Cabo Delgado had “improved significantly” after African countries deployed troops to help Mozambique’s security forces deal with the insurgency in 2021.

The energy major’s Chairman and Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne visited Mozambique two months ago to meet Nyusi and review the security and humanitarian situation in Cabo Delgado.

After Pouyanne’s visit, TotalEnergies announced the appointment of Jean-Christophe Rufin, who it said was an expert in humanitarian action and human rights, to independently assess the situation in Cabo Delgado province.

This assessment would help TotalEnergies and its partners decide if conditions were right to resume the project. - Reuters

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