There are strong indications that the TotalEnergies Mozambique LNG project will be back on track by June next year.This is according to African project specialist and analyst Duncan Bonnett of Africa House who says while the project in the north of Mozambique was significantly impacted after an insurgency, it has remained a top priority for the parties involved.“There is a definite positive feeling and things are picking up following the deployment of troops in Cabo Delgado to help quell the insurgency,” he told Freight News. “Early indications are that the companies involved are looking at the middle of next year to resume activity on the LNG project. Of course this comes with some very big ifs and buts and is very much contingent on the security in the region being maintained, but it is very positive news indeed.”Total and its partners were forced to declare force majeure on the $20-billion project earlier this year after Islamic State-linked fighters overran the town of Palma, close to where the ongoing LNG project is being developed. This left the French energy group with no choice but to declare force majeure and withdraw all its staff from the construction site. At the time it was unclear when the project would pick up again or even if it would continue.“I think this has been one of the positives – that even though the companies involved have been offsite, they have not abandoned the project and work has been ongoing in the past few months,” said Bonnett.At least eight export agencies had a stake in the f lagship Mozambican project and not a single one had paid out insurance or withdrawn from the project, giving a clear indication that those involved were positive about the development, explained Bonnett.“This project fundamentally remains in place and it really is just a question of guaranteeing the security before workers return and construction continues.”Troops from Rwanda and SADC have been deployed to Cabo Delgado in recent months to assist Mozambican forces and stabilise the situation.In a recent statement, the African Development Bank, which is lending $400 million to the project, said it was optimistic that it would take off again by the middle of 2022.
