2023-12-22 20:03:53
French energy group TotalEnergies plans to restart its long-delayed $20 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique in the first quarter of next year, two sources told Archyde.com late Friday. .
Work has been halted since 2021, when a violent insurgency by Islamic State-linked militants threatened the Cabo Delgado site, leading TotalEnergies to declare force majeure and halt construction.
In September, TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said the company planned to restart before the end of the year as the security situation had improved with support from a regional military force including Rwanda.
“TotalEnergies has indicated that it wants to restart its LNG project in Mozambique in January 2024,” said a government source close to the process, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Ongoing violence in Mozambique’s northern province has killed thousands since it erupted in 2017, disrupting multibillion-dollar investments, including the $20 billion LNG project in which TotalEnergies has a stake of 26.5%.
“TotalEnergies has asked lenders to seek approval to restart the Mozambique LNG project in the first quarter of 2024,” said a second funding source with direct knowledge of the project.
The project, which will help transform the economic situation of the poor southern African country, has faced criticism from environmental campaigners who last month urged donors to withdraw their financial support.
TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
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