Total to restart Mozambique LNG project beset by delays and regional violence

Nearly five years on from declaring force majeure on Mozambique LNG, TotalEnergies and Mozambique have jointly declared the project back on. 

At a meeting in Afungi, a peninsula in the Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique, TotalEnergies president, chairman and chief executive Patrick Pouyanné met with Mozambique Republic President Daniel Chapo for a joint announcement of the "full restart of Mozambique LNG project activities".

"This restart of project activities onshore and offshore follows the decision made on 7 November 2025 by the Mozambique LNG consortium to lift the force majeure that was declared in 2021 and resume project activities," a statement from French oil and gas major TotalEnergies said.

Construction activities have now restarted both offshore and onshore at the Afungi site, with more than 4,000 workers currently ’mobilised’, TotalEnergies said. The company said it expects first LNG in 2029 and said the project’s progress currently stands at 40%. This assessment of project progress came despite TotalEnergies assessing the project at 21% complete just two months before declaring force majeure.

TotalEnergies said "almost all" engineering and procurement of the main equipment elements needed for the project have been undertaken during the force majeure period.

Mr Pouyanné said in a press conference reported on by Reuters that "We have one target now, which is to deliver the LNG by 2029 on a budget of US$20.0Bn, so there’s a lot of work to be done." He also confirmed that an offshore vessel has been mobilised to begin installing offshore infrastructure, claiming a "massive ramp-up in activity in the coming months".

TotalEnergies began eyeing a restart of operations at the Mozambique LNG project as far back as 2023, with a report prepared by an independent expert Jean-Christophe Rufin, regarding the humanitarian situation in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgao province. 

At that time, an Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado had been ongoing for several years, displacing thousands. The United Nations Human Rights Commission assessed that over a million people had fled the province in the five years leading up to 2023.

Mr Pouyanné tasked Mr Rufin to assess the situation, Mozambique LNG’s actions and propose any additional actions to be implemented, if required.

Assessing the development work on behalf of the local population, as undertaken by Mozambique LNG partners around the Afungi industrial site between 2021 and 2023, the report found the consortium’s work had fallen short. While the consortium has executed work to help improve the quality of life, Mr Rufin found the implementation of these programmes was guided more by security concerns “than by a true development logic.”

Mr Rufin’s report called for several changes to be made, including establishing a dedicated authority focusing on socio-economic development, with a substantial multi-year budget. 

The report concluded, “Information flows little and poorly between Mozambique LNG and other actors,” and recommended establishing a dedicated structure and increased resources to deliver better results. Suggested improvements related to updating the inventories of the affected persons’ assets, the payment timeline of compensation, providing agricultural land and access to fishing areas.

TotalEnergies published an action plan decided by Mozambique LNG partners based on the recommendations of the report. In the action plan, the partners committed to establishing Pamoja Tunaweza, a dedicated Foundation with a multi-annual budget of US$200M, to implement a socio-economic development programme covering the whole territory of the Cabo Degaldo province.

The Foundation was to be headed by a recognised figure in the field of local economic development and be overseen by a board of directors including representatives of Mozambique LNG and of civil society.

TotalEnergies, the project operator and leading shareholder, said it will also provide 200M meticals (US$3.2M) to aid victims of Mozambique’s recent flooding.

Mozambique LNG was initially expected to deliver its first LNG cargo in 2024, with plans to produce up to 43M tonnes of gas annually. 

Mozambique LNG aims to be the country’s first onshore LNG development. The project covers the development of the Golfinho and Atum fields located within Offshore Area 1 and the construction of two trains with a capacity of 13.1 mta. Area 1 contains more than 60 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas resources, of which 18 Tcf was to be developed with the first two trains. 

TotalEnergies and Mozambique remain in negotiations over what Total has said is an increase of US$4.5Bn in costs for the project that have arisen during the five-year delay. Total is seeking extensions for development and production periods and has reportedly received an automatic extension for the delay period.

“The resumption of the project represents a significant milestone for the national economy and reaffirms the confidence of international partners in Mozambique’s energy, institutional and human potential. It will have a direct and significant impact on job creation, both in the construction phase and in the operational phase, stimulating the national labour market and promoting the capacity-building of Mozambican manpower. At the same time, it consolidates Mozambique’s positioning as a regional energy hub and reaffirms the country as a credible and relevant actor in the global liquefied natural gas market, strengthening its geostrategic position and its role in global energy security”, President Chapo said.

TotalEnergies has a 26.5% stake in the Mozambique LNG consortium, Japan’s Mitsui owns 20.0%, ENH holds 15.0%, and Bharat Petroleum, Oil India, and ONGC Videsh all hold 10.0% stakes. Thailand’s PTTEP holds the remaining 8.5% stake.