Mozambique’s state-owned oil company ENH is in talks with potential investors, including South Africa’s Sasol and pipeline company ROMPCO, over a new natural gas project as the country seeks to become a regional energy hub, its chief executive said.
Mozambique supplies gas to South Africa from Sasol’s onshore Pande and Temane fields, which are expected to be depleted within a few years. Its vast offshore resources in the Rovuma Basin could help meet South Africa’s future gas needs.
The proposed project, centred on the coastal towns of Beira and Inhassoro, is expected to cost about $250 million. It would involve deploying floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) at Inhassoro and the Port of Beira.
A new 140-kilometre pipeline would connect the facilities to the ROMPCO pipeline, the main gas artery linking Mozambique to South Africa’s Secunda industrial complex.
ENH is part of a group of state-owned companies awarded an exclusive 30-year concession last year to build and operate natural gas facilities in Mozambique, where TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Eni are developing large liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.
“We want our infrastructure by 2030 or 2031, in step with Mozambique LNG, Rovuma LNG and Coral North,” Rudencio Morais, ENH’s chairman and chief executive, told Reuters in an interview.
Gas from these developments is largely destined for international markets. However, petroleum laws in force since June require at least 25% of oil and gas production, explicitly including LNG, to be allocated to the domestic market.
“Mozambique is going to become what we call the power hub,” Morais said, outlining plans to export gas to a region plagued by power shortages.
Sasol said it would be premature to speculate on the nature or scale of any potential investment as it sought alternative gas supplies.
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