Maputo, 22 Dec (AIM) – The French oil and gas company, TotalEnergies, which heads the Mozambique LNG project, located on the Afungi peninsula, Palma district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, may resume operations in the next three months.
This announcement was made on Thursday, in Maputo, by President Filipe Nyusi, during the ceremony to welcome the Mozambican community in the diaspora on the occasion of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“Onshore projects are expected to resume, especially the LNG project in Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin, in the first quarter of next year”, the President said.
According to Nyusi, the resumption is due to the efforts made by the Mozambique Defiance and Security Forces (FDS) supported by a military contingent from the Rwandan Forces and the Southern African Development Community Military Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM).
As a result, he added, terrorist attacks have tended to slow down in recent months.
In April 2021, TotalEnergies declared force majeure to suspend all activities on the project, due to a major terrorist raid against the town of Palma.
The Mozambique LNG Project, budgeted at 20 billion dollars, began with the discovery of over 65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Rovuma Basin, which led TotalEnergies and its partners to take a Final Investment Decision in 2019.
The project includes two gas liquefaction units to be built on the Afungi Peninsula, with an expansion capacity of up to 43 million tonnes per year.
Since October 2017, Cabo Delgado has been the target of terrorist attacks that have killed more than 3,000 citizens and caused more than 900,000 people to flee to safer places, triggering a humanitarian crisis.
During the meeting with Mozambicans living in the diaspora, Nyusi praised their commitment to the sustainable development and well-being of the country, guaranteeing that their concerns will gradually be resolved.
According to Nyusi, Mozambicans living in the diaspora have asked for facilities to issue identity cards, passports and other personal documents to fulfill their rights and duties in the host countries.
The Mozambican authorities have managed to set up services to issue personal documents in 15 countries, including South Africa, the United States, Germany, Portugal, Kenya, Rwanda, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
(AIM)
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