China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is preparing to commence a significant hydrocarbon exploration campaign in Mozambique’s deep waters next month, marking a crucial development for the country’s energy sector. Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Estêvão Pale, announced that the state-owned Chinese oil giant will begin drilling operations across up to six blocks awarded during the 2021 sixth licensing round.
“They will start very soon. In March, they will begin preparations to commence exploration,” Minister Pale told journalists at the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, South Africa. The exploration will focus on deep-water blocks in the Rovuma Basin in northern Mozambique, one of the world’s most promising natural gas regions.
The concession contracts cover offshore blocks in Save (S6-A and S6-B) and Angoche (A6-G, A6-D, and A6-E), with CNOOC Hong Kong and Mozambique’s National Hydrocarbons Company (ENH) as joint concessionaires. These contracts were signed in 2024 following the Mozambican government’s approval in March of that year, but drilling operations have been delayed until now. The sixth licensing round, launched in November 2021, encompassed 16 blocks across four key areas, covering more than 92,000 square kilometers. The blocks were distributed across the Rovuma Basin, Angoche, Zambezi Delta, and Save regions.
Minister Pale indicated that Mozambique has no immediate plans for another licensing round, preferring instead to focus on direct negotiations for undeveloped areas from the previous round. “We believe there are still many areas available for direct negotiations that were part of the last licensing round and were not developed,” he explained.
The Rovuma Basin already hosts three approved natural gas development projects. Eni’s Coral Sul project has been operational since 2022, with a second floating platform, Coral Norte, approved for a $7.2 billion investment that will double production to 7 million tonnes per annum by 2028. TotalEnergies’ $20 billion Mozambique LNG project resumed operations in January after a four-year suspension due to security concerns, targeting 13 million tonnes per annum from 2029. ExxonMobil’s $30 billion Rovuma LNG project is expected to follow with 18 million tonnes per annum after 2030, pending final investment approval this year.
Source: clubofmozambique.com