Mozambique expects Exxon's decision for largest investment in Africa in September, says PR

Photo: Lusa Mozambique expects the final investment decision from ExxonMobil for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) mega-project in Cabo Delgado in September, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo told Lusa, underlining that it is the largest private investment in Africa. “We are making good progress with Exxon,” said the Mozambican Head of State in an interview with Lusa, having departed Tuesday for Lisbon for a four-day official visit. “We are working so that, if everything goes well, by September of this year, 2026, we can also sign the final investment decision. We are talking about the largest private investment project on the African continent, around 20 billion dollars [17.5 billion euros],” he emphasized. The North American oil company ExxonMobil leads the Rovuma LNG mega-project in Cabo Delgado, which plans to share infrastructure with the neighboring TotalEnergies mega-project currently under construction. On January 26, in Afungi, during the ceremony marking the resumption of the TotalEnergies mega-project—after nearly a five-year suspension due to terrorist attacks—the Mozambican President anticipated the start of ExxonMobil’s mega-project in about a year’s time. ExxonMobil announced last November 20 that it lifted the declaration of force majeure for the natural gas mega-project in Cabo Delgado, an essential step toward the Final Investment Decision (FID), now scheduled for September 2026. The oil company suspended the Rovuma LNG gas project, one of the largest in Africa, following the terrorist attacks in 2021 in Cabo Delgado. Mozambique has three approved development mega-projects to exploit the LNG reserves of the Rovuma basin, classified among the largest in the world off the coast of Cabo Delgado. ExxonMobil forecasts the production of 18 million tons per year (mtpa) of LNG in Area 4. Meanwhile, the Area 1 project, led by TotalEnergies and currently resuming, expects LNG deliveries in 2029 and a capacity of 13 mtpa. This is joined by Italy’s Eni, which has been producing since 2022 through the Coral Sul floating platform, a capacity that will be doubled to seven mtpa starting in 2028 with the second platform, Coral Norte—a 7.2 billion dollar (6.2 billion euro) investment whose FID was signed in October—alongside the prospect of developing a third unit. Source: Lusa