As the EU grapples with an energy crisis and seeks alternatives to Russian pipeline gas, the bloc plans to increase its financial support to a military mission in Mozambique - a gas-rich country in Africa plagued by Islamist attacks and insurgents in recent years that have delayed offshore gas projects.
The EU now looks to increase fivefold the financial backing to an African military mission in Mozambique, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing an internal EU document.
International oil majors have several projects offshore Mozambique, where large volumes of gas have been discovered in recent years. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Africa is one of the EU's options to replace part of the Russian pipeline deliveries, which have not only been reduced in recent weeks, but are highly uncertain going forward.
However, insurgents and attacks near areas of LNG developments have stalled some projects in Mozambique, such as that of TotalEnergies. The French supermajor declared last year force majeure on its US$20-billion LNG project in Mozambique following Islamist militant attacks in towns close to the site. The project site is close to the town of Palma in the Cabo Delgado province, where Islamic State-affiliated militants have been active for a few years. The TotalEnergies-led Mozambique LNG Project, for which the Final Investment Decision (FDI) was taken in 2019, is currently on track to deliver LNG in 2024, the company says.
But Italy's Eni expects to begin LNG shipments from another project offshore Mozambique in the second half of this year after the group announced in June that the Coral South Project had safely achieved the introduction of hydrocarbons to the Coral Sul Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) plant from the Coral South reservoir.
"Following the introduction of gas in the plant, Coral Sul FLNG will now be ready to achieve its first LNG cargo in the second half of 2022, adding Mozambique to the LNG-producing countries," Eni said two months ago.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More