Mozambique LNG Projects Ready to Resume
During an analysts’ call on 30 October 2025, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne gave an update on the company’s #LNG project in Mozambique. Works will soon resume with a completion time targeted for 2029. On the other hand, the budget for the project has increased by USD 4.5 billion to reach USD 20.5 billion.
The ‘Force Majeure’ condition due to unrest since 2021 was officially cleared on 25 October 2025. The revised plan was then submitted to the Government of Mozambique for approval. The new plan also requests an extension of ten years to the concession in view of the pause.
On 31 October 2025, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods declared that his company’s project in Mozambique ‘is now in a very good position’, and final investment decision (#FID) is expected at the start of 2026. On the sidelines of #UNGA80, Woods met with Mozambican President Chapo to seek security assurance for the smooth project implementation. The ExxonMobil Projet is estimated at USD 30 billion and a hostile environment might derail it.
Both the projects of TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil are off the Cabo Delgado coast in the Rovuma Basin. According to the Mozambican Ministry of Natural Resources, Mozambique has proven reserves of natural gas estimated at 85 trillion cubic feet (tcf), placing Mozambique among the top 20 countries in the world, and 3rd in Africa, behind Nigeria and Algeria.
Both TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil plan to share an onshore liquefaction plant in Afungi. Therefore, synchronization and coordination between the two major extraction projects are quite necessary.
Global demand for #LNG is 2024 increased by 2.4%. Countries with rich reserves of natural gases are also lobbying to have a longer and more flexible #EnergyTransition away from fossil fuels by arguing that LNG is less polluting than petroleum. Russia is the undisputed leader with reserves of 1,688 tcf. However with the Ukraine-Russia conflict, many western countries are moving to diversify their sources and urging others to do so as well.
At the end of October 2025, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo attended the WB/IMF Annual Meetings in DC. It is worth highlighting that Mozambique and US are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2025. The US Chamber of Commerce hosted his delegation and organized a roundtable to explore business opportunites between US and Mozambique.
While in the USA, President Chapo also had the opportunity to visit the ExxonMobil campus in Houston. There, he witnessed the signing of two MoU with ExxonMobil. The Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) will receive an investment of USD 40 million to set up a advanced technical training center in Maputo to provide skilled labor for the LNG project. ENH will receive another USD 10 million to support #industrialization by conducting feasibility studies and project development related to the production of petrochemicals and fertilizers, amongst others.