Mozambique expects to load the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Rovuma basin, off Cabo Delgado province, by the end of the month, according to the minister of economy and finance, Max Tonela.

“We hope that before the end of October the first export of LNG produced by Mozambique will take place,” the minister told Lusa News Agency.

Of the three LNG projects approved for the northern region of Mozambique, the Coral Sul platform, on the high seas, far from the armed violence in Cabo Delgado, is set to be the first to export gas from reserves that are among the largest in the world.

Coral Sul floating LNG plant to load first Mozambique gas cargo in second-half 2022

The platform, which is overseen by a consortium led by Italy’s Eni, is expected to produce 3.4 million tonnes of gas per year.

The gas has already started to be processed on the platform, and awaits the arrival of the first cargo ship from BP, which has signed a contract to buy the production for 20 years.

The other two, larger projects, led by TotalEnergies and Exxon/Eni, have liquefaction plants planned for onshore, on the Afungi peninsula, but await final decisions by the oil companies to go ahead.

Eni’s Coral Sul FLNG completes journey from South Korea to Mozambique

The TotalEnergies project was underway but was suspended in March 2021, due to armed attacks in the Cabo Delgado region.

Thore Kristiansen, executive director at Portugal’s Galp Energia – which is part of the consortium led by Eni – said at the launching ceremony of the Coral Sul platform, in the Geoje shipyard, South Korea, that it might be worth studying the possibility of installing a second gas platform in the open sea in the Rovuma basin, in view of the difficult security situation in Cabo Delgado.