The National Petroleum Institute (INP), the sector’s regulatory body, announced on Monday (12) that five of the six contracts relating to the sixth tender for hydrocarbon exploration and production in Mozambique have been signed with the oil concessionaires. The announcement was made by the president of the INP, Nazário Bangalane, during a visit to the works at the plant that will supply natural gas to the Temane Thermal Power Station (CTT), the first of its kind in the country.
“The sixth tender is almost complete. Five contracts have already been formally signed and approved by the government, while the sixth contract is in the final stages of being signed, before going for government approval,” said Bangalane.
The agreements established between the Mozambican authorities and the oil companies still depend on the Administrative Court’s approval so that exploration operations can begin later this year. “We are confident that work will begin before the end of the year,” added Bangalane.
The sixth tender was launched by the government at the end of 2021, motivated by the significant natural gas discoveries in the country, especially in the Rovuma Basin, which is home to one of the largest reserves in the world. Mozambique has three development projects approved to exploit the natural gas reserves in this region.
The first of these projects, led by TotalEnergies in the Area 1 consortium, had work suspended due to security concerns following the armed attack in Palma in March 2021. TotalEnergies is waiting for adequate security conditions to resume work. The second project, with no start date yet set, is led by the consortium led by ExxonMobil and Eni in Area 4.
A third project, already in operation, consists of a floating platform for capturing and processing gas for direct export at sea, part of the Area 4 consortium. This project began operating in November 2022.
