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TotalEnergies declared force majeure on the Mozambique LNG project in April 2021 and withdrew all personnel from the site due to new attacks.
The French company and its partners are working to resume the work on the giant LNG project.
TotalEnergies is the operator of the Mozambique LNG project with a 26.5 percent stake, while ONGC Videsh has a 10 percent stake. Other partners include India’s Bharat Petroleum (10 percent), Oil India (10 percent), Japan’s Mitsui (20 percent), Mozambique’s ENH (15 percent), and Thailand’s PTT (8.5 percent).
ONGC said in a filing with the stock exchange that its board has approved the investment by ONGC Videsh (OVL) in one or more tranches of up to 15 billion rupees ($175.3 million) in Beas Rovuma Energy Mozambique Limited (BREML).
BREML is a subsidiary of OVL with 60 percent shareholding and the other joint venture partner is OIL India.
Moreover, ONGC’s board has approved the sponsoring of a senior loan up to $379.30 million by OVL Overseas IFSC Ltd (OOIL) to Moz LNG1 Financing Company Ltd (MozLNG1) for the Area 1 Mozambique project.
OOIL is a unit of OVL, and MozLNG1 is an associate of ONGC Videsh Rovuma Limited (OVRL), another unit of OVL.
The company will also extend guarantee support to MozLNG1 against the loan, it said.
US EXIM
This move follows a recent approval by the Export-Import Bank of the United States for the TotalEnergies-led Mozambique LNG project.
The board of the Export-Import Bank re-approved a $4.7 billion loan.
In May 2020, EXIM voted to amend the agency’s previously approved September 2019 direct loan supporting US exports for the development and construction of the LNG project located on the Afungi Peninsula in northern Mozambique.
The action amended the original scope of EXIM’s financing of the project from exclusively the onshore portion of the LNG plant and related facilities to also allocate an estimated $1.8 billion of the estimated total of $4.7 billion.
However, the loan needed to be approved again due to the force majeure announced in 2021.
Launch in 2029, 2030
Mozambique LNG’s EPC contractor is CCS JV, a venture between Saipem, McDermott, and Chiyoda.
The project includes the development of offshore gas fields in Mozambique’s Area 1 and the liquefaction plant at the Afungi complex.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick 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 that 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 last month during TotalEnergies’ 2024 results and 2025 objectives presentation in London.