Mozambique - Energy Sector Open to All

Reading the news, it sometimes seems as if China has bought up Africa's energy resources lock, stock and barrel.

But one nation is bucking the trend - Mozambique, who according to a recent report from the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, has seen its President Armando Emilio Guebuza essentially declare that the country's energy resources are open to all comers.

And what a frontier it seems to be, especially for Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the largest U.S. independent oil and natural gas company by market value.

On 5 October Anadarko Petroleum Corp. raised its estimates of reserves in its offshore Mozambican Indian Ocean fields after reappraising its Camarao Offshore Area 1 of the deepwater Rovuma Basin, stating its belief that the Windjammer, Barquentine, Lagosta and Camarao complex holds at least 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, more than the Britain's North Sea proven reserves, according to BP Plc data.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Vice President Bob Daniels exulted, "Our successful drilling program offshore Mozambique continues to expand the already world-class resource potential of this frontier basin. We are optimistic that our current resource estimates will increase, as we still have significant exploration and appraisal work ahead of us."

Putting its money where its reserves are, two months ago Anadarko Petroleum Corp. hired Technip SA and KBR Inc. to design a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Mozambique after reappraising its reserves…