Big hitters betting on Mozambique to be global LNG player

After a protracted process, new licenses have been signed, while onshore LNG projects are edging closer to realisation

"2018 has been a remarkable year for ExxonMobil in Mozambique," the company's country manager Jos Evens said after signing three new exploration and production concession contracts (EPCCs) for areas off the country's long coast in early October. The negotiation of those EPCCs has taken the three years since the country's fifth licensing round results were announced in October 2015. During that time, ExxonMobil—which bid for fifth-round blocks in partnership with Rosneft—has bought a joint operator's stake in Eni's Area 4 block. Evens confirmed at the EPCC signing event in Maputo that a final investment decision on an onshore liquefied natural gas project in northern Mozambique, based on Area