Communication - Presse
Area 4: Eni Plans to Expand Operations at Rovuma Basin LNG Project
In a congratulatory letter addressed to Chapo, who was invested on Wednesday 15 January, Descalzi stressed that the Italian multinational is committed to further strengthening its collaboration with the country and giving more prominence to the LNG produced in the country.
We intend to project Mozambique onto the global LNG scene and extend our strategic partnership through the implementation of the Coral Norte FLNG project in the Rovuma basin. Rest assured that our aim is to support Mozambique’s long-term development strategy through Local Content initiatives and accelerating the country’s energy transition with our vegetable oil initiative and forestry projects,’ the document emphasises.
Last October, Eni, the concessionaire for Rovuma Area 4, said it was already in talks with the government with a view to developing a second floating platform, a copy of the first and called Coral Norte, to increase gas extraction.
‘Eni has finalised the Development Plan, which is currently under discussion with partners and the Mozambican government for final approval, and at the same time we are moving forward with procurement processes, environmental impact studies, including contracts associated with drilling,’ he said at the time.
A study by consultancy firm Deloitte concluded in 2024 that Mozambique’s LNG reserves – which currently have projects underway or being studied by oil multinationals such as TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Eni – represent potential revenues of 100 billion dollars, highlighting the country’s international importance in the energy transition.
‘The country’s vast gas reserves could make Mozambique one of the world’s top ten producers, responsible for 20 per cent of Africa’s production by 2040,’ said the report.
In his first speech, Daniel Chapo announced the creation of a Mozambique Development Bank, financed with natural gas resources, as well as a wide range of measures to revitalise the economy and support the population.
‘We intend to project Mozambique onto the global LNG scene and extend our strategic partnership through the implementation of the Coral Norte FLNG project in the Rovuma basin’
We are going to create the Mozambique Development Bank to develop infrastructure, finance and better drive strategic projects for the progress of our country. With the resources generated by the gas assets, we will capitalise this bank and immediately invest in projects that transform the lives of Mozambicans,’ said the President.
Mozambique has three development projects approved to exploit the natural gas reserves of the Rovuma basin, classified as among the largest in the world, all located off the coast of Cabo Delgado province.
Two of these projects are larger and involve channelling the gas from the seabed to land, cooling it in a factory and then exporting it by sea in a liquid state.
One is led by TotalEnergies (Area 1 consortium) and work progressed until it was suspended indefinitely following the armed attack on Palma in March 2021, when the French energy company declared that it would only resume work when the area was safe. The other is the investment, still unannounced, led by ExxonMobil and Eni (Area 4 consortium).
A third completed, smaller project also belongs to the Area 4 consortium and consists of a floating platform to capture and process gas for export, directly at sea, which started up in November 2022.
