Patrick Pouyanné, the CEO of TotalEnergies, traveled to Mozambique for the fifth time on Thursday, January 29. While not his first trip, it was far from routine. Alongside Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, Pouyanné announced the official revival of the company’s massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the north of the country, which had been halted in 2021 after a deadly jihadist attack. For the company, the project was clearly too big to fail: Despite years of controversy and the withdrawals of some partners, the French energy giant has remained determined to get it back on track.
“You will see a huge increase in activity in the coming months,” Pouyanné said during a ceremony near the site in Afungi, in Cabo Delgado province, on Thursday. “A first vessel has already been sent to begin installing the offshore infrastructure.”
The oil and gas giant has a lot on the line with Mozambique LNG. With a 26.5% stake, alongside Asian and Mozambican investors, TotalEnergies is the operator and largest shareholder in the $20 billion venture, one of the largest private investments ever made in Africa. It plans to tap into the enormous gas reserves discovered off the Mozambican coast about 15 years ago, and two liquefaction units are set to be built to convert natural gas into LNG.
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