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“On Mozambique, I’ll be clear, we are working, you know it’s a major project, and I would say we are working in order to ensure a very strong alignment between the government of Mozambique and the investors,” Pouyanne told analysts during the second-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
“This is for me absolutely necessary before to re-engage to have a very strong alignment between the Mozambican authorities and the investors,” he said.
Pouyanne provided further details on the restart later during the call.
Hw was asked “where the misalignment lies.”
“Don’t misunderstand it negatively what I said. I made a positive comment, which is to restart a project, we need a strong alignment, and we are working on a strong alignment. So don’t try to interpret my words,” he said.
“It’s just that we are working on it. We speak about a large project, $20 billion. So we need to be sure,” Pouyanne said.
“I need to have the strong alignment between parties, security, everything, you know.. And again, summer, I said summer, so summer and September. So give me time,” he said.
Earlier this year, Pouyanne stated that TotalEnergies and its partners plan to restart construction on the LNG project by mid-year.
This followed the Export-Import Bank of the United States’ reapproval of a $4.7 billion loan for the Mozambique LNG project.
TotalEnergies declared force majeure on the Mozambique LNG project in April 2021 and withdrew all personnel from the site due to new attacks.
Mozambique LNG includes the development of offshore gas fields in Mozambique’s Area 1 and a liquefaction plant at the Afungi complex.
Besides TotalEnergies, other partners in the project include Japan’s Mitsui, Mozambique’s ENH, Thailand’s PTT, and Indian firms ONGC, Bharat Petroleum, and Oil India.
Launch in 2029, 2030
Mozambique LNG’s EPC contractor is CCS JV, a venture between Saipem, McDermott, and Chiyoda.
Pouyanne said in October last year that TotalEnergies and its partners were working to restart construction on the giant LNG project by the end of 2024.
He said at the time the project was expected to launch operations in 2029.
“Today, I think we told you 2029. If we lose six months, we’re 2029, 2030, but the idea is to be able to launch the project,” he said in February during TotalEnergies’ 2024 results and 2025 objectives presentation in London.