Mozambique's government has granted TotalEnergies a four-and-a-half-year extension to its original 30-year development concession for the Mozambique LNG project. This extension is intended to compensate for the period the project was under force majeure.

Approval and Official Communication

The extension was reportedly approved during a Council of Ministers’ meeting. However, the government's official communique from the meeting did not explicitly mention the 4.5-year extension. Instead, it announced the approval of the resolution for the resumption of the Golfinho-Atum LNG project. The communique also mandated an audit of costs incurred during the force majeure period and ensured continued government monitoring of the project.

Project Scope and Revised Budget

The project is based on the Golfinho and Atum deepwater discoveries, which will supply feed gas to a 13-million-tonne-per-annum liquefaction plant. Concurrently, the government is assessing TotalEnergies' revised budget for the project, which has increased by $4.5 billion due to the force majeure's impact on development costs. An audit of this revised budget has been completed, with sources indicating "significant progress has been made" and that approval could come "soon".

Project Status and Timeline

TotalEnergies lifted the force majeure on the project last month. The lead onshore contractor, Saipem, is anticipating an official restart of work shortly. If all subsequent phases proceed smoothly, the project is projected to become operational in 2029 or 2030.