Mozambique LNG financing cannot lift security gloom

Long-delayed prospects for onshore LNG production in Mozambique have improved thanks to US financing approval, but security challenges blight way ahead

Prospects for the Mozambique LNG development got better in March when the US Export-Import Bank approved a $4.7b loan, but although TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the project may be able to start in 2029 or 2030, he added that he still wants to see security improvements. TotalEnergies is leading the project, sited near Palma in northern Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, with Japan’s Mitsui, Mozambique’s ENH, Thailand’s PTT, and Indian firms ONGC, Bharat Petroleum and Oil India as partners. The project says it has access to about 65tcf of recoverable gas.   lMozambique LNG was put under force majeure in April 2021 due to an insurgency. The rebellion began in 2017, and Mozambique’s