Maputo, Nov. 18, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique's government on Tuesday approved a resolution that provides for an audit of the costs claimed by TotalEnergies for the stoppage of the $4.5 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) mega-project in Cabo Delgado, which it will have to validate.
"The cabinet approved the resolution on the resumption of the Golfinho Tuna LNG project. The resolution determines that the government should carry out and validate an audit of any costs incurred by the concessionaire during the “force majeure” maintenance period," announced spokesman Inocêncio Impissa at the end of the Council meeting in Porto today.
"It determines the period for presentation by the concessionaire of the schedule of actions and approvals necessary for the immediate resumption and implementation of the project and ensures that the government monitors the implementation of the project in the various cross-cutting matters," the cabinet spokesman added on the approved resolution.
The Mozambican President said on 12 November that he hoped to conclude negotiations with TotalEnergies within a week. TotalEnergies has proposed extending the concession for the mega gas project in Cabo Delgado by 10 years to compensate for the losses it claims from the stoppage of work since 2021 due to the terrorist attacks.
"If all goes well, in a week or so at most, we will finalise talks with the project, which is led by Total, so that we can resume after the public announcement of the lifting of the “force majeure”. The official announcement has already been made," said the head of state, Daniel Chapo, in Maputo.
At issue are the conditions imposed by TotalEnergies, in a letter delivered to the Mozambican Presidency on 24 October, communicating the decision to lift the project's “force majeure” clause, four years after it was suspended due to extremist attacks in Cabo Delgado, but also pointing out the need for compensation for the damage caused by the stoppage.
The extension of the concession proposed by TotalEnergies, leader of the Area 1 consortium in the Rovuma Basin, northern Mozambique, would compensate for losses of $4.5 billion (€3.870 billion) during the suspension of the megaproject.
In the letter signed by the president of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, announcing the decision to lift the “force majeure” clause, the request is justified to "partially compensate for the economic impact", acknowledging that the safety conditions for resumption are now in place.
"The concessionaire respectfully requests that the Government grant an extension to the Development and Production Period of the Golfinho-Atum [field] (...) for a period of 10 years," it said.
It added that, "as a final step before the full launch of the project", the Mozambique LNG concessionaire, led by TotalEnergies, "is awaiting approval from the Government of Mozambique for the revised cost and schedule".
At stake is a megaproject worth $20 billion (€17 billion). The concessionaire now indicates that the first delivery of LNG from the first line to be installed in Afungi, Cabo Delgado, has been moved from July 2024, as planned, to the "first half of 2029".
Mozambique has three mega-development projects approved to exploit the Rovuma basin's LNG reserves, classified among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado, including this one by TotalEnergies (13 mtpa), which is being resumed after being suspended due to attacks in the region, and another by ExxonMobil (18 mtpa), worth $30 billion (€26.1 billion), which is awaiting a final investment decision, both on the Afungi peninsula.
In addition, Italy's Eni has already been producing around seven mtpa since 2022 from the Coral South floating platform, which will be doubled from 2028 with the second Coral North platform, in an investment of $7.2 billion (€6.2 billion).
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
