Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.
The Mozambique LNG Project started with the discovery of a vast quantity of natural gas off the coast of northern Mozambique in 2010, leading to a $20 billion Final Investment Decision in 2019. Now, through cooperation and responsible project planning, the project is on track to deliver LNG in 2024.
For now, our plans for the approximately 65 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas include a two-train project with the ability to expand up to 43 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
The Project is operated by TotalEnergies – the world’s second largest LNG player with a leading presence in Africa – which is uniquely qualified to ensure the Mozambique LNG Project helps to meet the world’s increasing demand for sustainable, reliable and cleaner energy sources.
The Project is committed to collaborating with Mozambican communities and government officials to safely develop these resources in a manner that protects the environment, encourages additional foreign investment, and contributes to the long-term social and economic stability of the country.
The Mozambique LNG Project will deliver a range of social and economic benefits to Mozambique.
Its geographic location positions the project well to meet Atlantic and Asia-Pacific market needs, as well as tap into the growing energy demands of the Middle East and Indian sub-continent.
In the short term, construction of the LNG facilities will provide opportunities for professional training, employment, and contracts for the supply of goods and services. The construction phase also manages environmental and social impacts and reduces risks.
In the medium-to-long term, the Mozambique LNG Project is foundational for diversifying Mozambique’s economic activities. The project will help to:
Develop competent construction and operation workforces
Develop subject matter experts that support those industries
Generate revenue that will contribute to the socio-economic development of the country
To date, approximately 65 Tcf of recoverable natural gas has been discovered in the Offshore Area 1– the equivalent of a 12 billion barrel oil field. The results to date of the drillstem testing (DST) program in the Prosperidade and Golfinho/Atum complexes demonstrate the outstanding flow characteristics of the reservoirs. Each flow test successfully flowed at facility-constrained rates of 90 to 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), which supports well designs of 100 to 200 MMcf/d.
Project milestones
2010, February
First discovery, Area 1
2014, December
Government passes LNG Decree Law
2015, October
Reserves certified, 12 MTPA
2018, February
Plan of development approved
2019, June
FID $20B committed
2019, August
Construction starts
2019, September
Total becomes Operator
2024
First LNG cargo
Well Completion
The well is “completed” by lowering a steel pipe, called casing, into the drilled hole and cementing it in place. Next, the pipe is perforated in the targeted zone in order to establish a flow path with the natural gas-bearing rock. A second steel pipe called tubing is lowered in the well that enables the natural gas to flow a distance of 2,500 meters to the seabed.
Gathering
At the seabed, the natural gas is gathered into subsea manifold systems from multiple wells. From this point, the natural gas enters a pipeline for transportation to the onshore LNG facility. The underwater systems are designed with subsea controls to regulate flow from the wells and provide a safe, reliable means for shutdown.
Processing & Liquefaction
The onshore Mozambique LNG facility will receive, pre-treat and liquefy the natural gas. During pre-treatment, the natural gas will flow through a series of pipes and vessels designed to remove water and hydrocarbon liquids along with any impurities to ensure high-quality natural gas.
After the natural gas is treated and conditioned, the gas stream is routed to a liquefaction ‘train’ where it will undergo multiple stages of refrigeration. Cooling the gas to approximately -160°C, the gas condenses into a clear, colorless and non-toxic liquid. The liquefaction process reduces the volume of the gas by 600 times, making storage and transportation easier.
LNG Storage
Once liquefied, the LNG is delivered into large, specially designed, sealed, non-pressurized tanks where it is stored, at -160°C, until it is ready to be shipped. All tanks for the Mozambique LNG project will be of full-containment design based on industry specification standards. Full-containment tanks typically feature a primary liquid containment, open-top inner tank and a pre-stressed concrete outer tank. The primary tank is constructed of 9% nickel steel, which provides excellent strength and toughness at cryogenic temperatures.
The outer concrete tank shell provides primary vapor containment and secondary liquid containment. As a back-up source of containment, the outer tank will contain the liquid and also provide for a safe, controlled release of the vapor, if necessary.
Storage facilities are equipped with advanced safety systems to monitor pressures and provide early detection of potential issues and rapidly activate emergency shutdown if warranted.
LNG Shipping and Transport
From the storage tanks, LNG will be transported through insulated pipelines to a nearby export jetty where it will be loaded into purpose-built LNG vessels.
LNG ships come in various sizes, shapes and designs. There is no “one size fits all.” Ship size is optimized project-by-project. One of the key features of the specially designed, double-hulled vessels is their insulated containment tanks that maintain the LNG in a liquid state for sea voyages to markets and consumers around the world.
Once the LNG is loaded onto an LNG ship, the vessel maintains the LNG in liquid state for delivery to markets around the world. The LNG ship essentially acts as the “pipeline” for delivery to other markets around the globe.
One-way voyage times from Mozambique to terminals in northern India might take 7 days, whereas a LNG cargo delivery to certain Japanese markets would be approximately 17 days in duration. When the LNG ship reaches its final destination, the LNG is offloaded at the buyer’s re-gasification terminal. The LNG is transferred into storage tanks and then undergoes vaporization, a process that heats the LNG to convert it back into natural gas. The clean-burning natural gas is then delivered to the intended end-users for energy supplies.
Preparing for LNG Production
Once a successful well has been drilled and commercial quantities of natural gas have been confirmed through appraisal activities, the development phase can begin. Development generally includes preparing wells for production. Because the natural gas found in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 1 is approximately 40 kilometers offshore and in water depths of approximately 1,600 meters, specially engineered equipment is required to produce, gather, process and transport the natural gas to the onshore facilities for processing.
TotalEnergies and partners lift force majeure on $20 billion Mozambique LNG project
26 October 2025
Oct 25 (Reuters) - French oil major TotalEnergies said it, along with its project partners, had lifted force majeure on their $20 billion Mozambique LNG project, four years after an Islamist militant attack brought construction to a halt.
Notice was sent to the Mozambican government via letter on Friday, a TotalEnergies press officer said.
The company said, however, the project would only be relaunched once the government had approved an updated budget and schedule.
"Before fully relaunching the project, Mozambique's council of ministers needs to approve an addendum to the plan of development," the company said.
TotalEnergies, the project's operator and leading shareholder, forecasts the 13 million metric-ton-per-year project will come online in 2029, around five years later than initially expected.
COSTS RISE BY AT LEAST $4 BILLION
Costs related to security and the four-year halt had added at least $4 billion to the project's stated $20 billion price tag, Indian shareholder Bharat Petroleum said last year. Shareholders have been in negotiations with the Mozambique government to decide how the additional costs should be split.
Contracts have been agreed to sell nearly 90% of the project's future output, TotalEnergies has said, with long-term buyers including China's CNOOC, France's EDF, and British major Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab. A portion of the gas is reserved for Mozambique's state energy company ENH.
Major discoveries of offshore gas lured investors to Mozambique - where companies including Italy's ENI (ENI.MI), opens new tab and U.S major ExxonMobil (XOM.N), opens new tab also have stakes - but the project's resumption will focus attention on whether Mozambique can provide the political stability and security needed to exploit those reserves.
The project, known as Mozambique LNG, is 40% complete. Remaining works will take place in "containment mode", with workers allowed in by air or sea only for security reasons, TotalEnergies told a September 29 Investor Day.
Mozambique LNG is owned by TotalEnergies (26.5%), Japan's Mitsui (20%), ENH (15%), Bharat Petroleum (10%), Oil India (10%), ONGC Videsh (10%), and Thailand's PTTEP (8.5%).
