Mozambique has positioned itself as a highly attractive gas market due to its significant natural gas resources and large-scale initiatives. Despite project delays in 2021, the country is more committed than ever to resuming projects, launching new initiatives, and attracting greater investment to the domestic market in 2022 and beyond. During an official state visit to Equatorial Guinea, H.E. Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, decided to spend a day discussing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas monetization at the Equatorial Guinea LNG (EG LNG) project at Punta Europa, led by H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons.
During his visit to EG LNG, H.E. President Nyusi met with H.E. Minister Lima in a bilateral meeting to discuss how LNG infrastructure works and how it may help the host country begin socioeconomic progress by generating crucial money. H.E. President Nyusi received first-hand knowledge of what an LNG plant can accomplish for a country and what the government can do to promote such projects by touring the facility. The visit was a watershed moment for Mozambique’s energy industry, with the President gathering information and insight from one of Africa’s most powerful natural gas operators. New chances for regional collaboration have surfaced for Equatorial Guinea, and with Mozambique expected to see extraordinary market expansion, future alliances will be critical in improving Africa’s domestic economy.
“Equatorial Guinea’s developments are a great example as to what LNG projects and gas monetization can do for Africa. It is great to see H.E. President Nyusi in Equatorial Guinea. This visit will give the President key ideas and examples as to what governments can do to drive gas monetization. Mozambique is going to see similar large-scale LNG projects that will drive Africa’s gas markets and position the continent as a globally competitive energy sector,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber (AEC).
The rise of Mozambique’s gas market in 2022 and beyond will be a game changer for Africa’s hydrocarbon market, according to the AEC’s Q1 2022 report, and will help put the continent on a path to become a global energy center. H.E. Nyusi is dedicated to seeing initiatives resume for this reason. Mozambique’s projects will be essential in guaranteeing energy security at a time when gas production across Africa needs to ramp up to satisfy growing demand both locally and internationally. The southern African nation is ideally positioned to be the preferred supplier to both Europe and Africa, with over 100 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, as evidenced by large-scale projects.
The Coral FLNG, for example, will enable Mozambique to produce 3.4 million tons per annum (mtpa) of gas for export to Europe and Asia in 2022, with roughly 450 billion cubic meters of gas in the Coral South Field in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin off the coast of Mozambique. Furthermore, TotalEnergies’ 12.8 mtpa Mozambique LNG project, as well as Eni and ExxonMobil’s 15.2 mtpa Rovuma LNG project, have the potential to change the regional gas market, placing Mozambique as a competitive gas exporter. Despite the fact that both projects have been delayed, progress is being done to bring them back on schedule.
“Mozambique has the potential to transform the African energy space while emerging as the preferred supplier to international markets. Getting the country’s gas projects back on track is a top priority, and during African Energy Week (AEW) in Cape Town, discussions will be centered around this very narrative,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman at the AEC.
The AEC is dedicated to seeing Mozambique’s gas future fulfilled as the voice of the African energy sector. An AEC group lead by Ayuk recently visited Mozambique, where they met with H.E. Carlos Zacarias, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) to discuss gas monetization and making energy poverty history through gas. During African Energy Week (AEW), the AEC is working on putting together a number of collaboration agreements between Mozambique and several African countries, all based on capacity building, driving investment, and ensuring growth.
Equatorial Guinea is an appropriate and necessary partner for Mozambique as it seeks to resurrect its gas market. The Punta Europe LNG project alone is regarded as one of Africa’s most significant gas projects. The 3.7 million tons per year LNG terminal handles both domestic and regional gas reserves, making it Africa’s top LNG processing facility and ensuring that Africa’s resources are used in Africa. As a result, Equatorial Guinea will play a key role in assisting Mozambique in realizing the full potential of its gas market.
“One of the key aspects of the EG LNG project is collaboration, with international oil companies (IOC) having the chance to work with nationals to scale up local content, leading to more local companies and people working at the LNG plant. This should be a key driver and initiative that should be adopted in Mozambique, partnerships between IOCs and nationals, as it will create jobs and opportunities that will ensure sustainable socioeconomic growth. Equatorial Guinea has been highly effective regarding regional cooperation. By working with other regional players including Nigeria, Cameroon, and now Mozambique, the country is driving growth on a continental scale. The AEC encourages more partnerships of this nature as well as engagements that drive LNG dialogue, LNG implementation and LNG developments. Gas will transform how we think and do business in Africa, as well as our ability to fight climate change. Gas is the pathway to fighting climate change,” Ayuk concluded.
During the continent’s largest energy event, AEW 2022, which takes place in Cape Town from October 18-21, discussions between H.E. President Nyusi and H.E. Minister Lima on the role African gas would play in Africa will be expanded upon.