Sales of natural gas by Mozambique in the first nine months of 2023 totalled $1.177 billion (€1.059 billion) , more than double those in the whole of 2022, and approaching those of coal, which continues to be the country’s main export product.
According to a detailed report by the Bank of Mozambique on the volume of the country’s exports, with data for the three quarters of 2023, to which Lusa had access to this Friday, natural gas exports broke the record in the third quarter, exceeding $500 million (€450 million), compared to more than $335 million (€301 million) in the previous quarter.
For the whole of 2022, Mozambique’s natural gas exports totalled $541 million (€487 million) and about half that of the previous year, according to the record provided by the Bank of Mozambique.
Also in the third quarter, Mozambique exported more than $574 million (€516 million) in mineral coal, which is still the leading product sold abroad by the African country. In the total of the three quarters, Mozambique exported almost $1.619 billion (€1.457 billion) in coal and in the whole of 2022 around $2.852 billion (€2.567 billion), double the figure for 2021.
Overall, Mozambican exports totalled $3.714.9 billion (€3.344 billion) from January to September, but in 2022 they broke the record, with more than $8.281 billion (€7.464 billion) in sales abroad, driven by coal.
The increase in natural gas exports is explained by the start-up, at the end of October 2022, of operations in Area 4, by Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint venture co-owned by ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC (China), which has a 70% stake in the concession contract, with natural gas production starting in 2022. Galp, Kogas (South Korea) and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (Mozambique) each hold a 10% stake.
Eni, the Italian concessionaire for Rovuma Area 4, is already discussing with Mozambique’s government the development of a second floating platform, a copy of the first and called Coral Norte, to increase gas extraction, a source at Eni told Lusa last month.
This plan involves the acquisition of a second FNLG floating platform for the Coral North area, identical to the one that has been operating in the Coral South area since mid-2022.
“Eni is working towards the development of Coral Norte through a second FLNG in Mozambique, taking advantage of the experience and lessons learnt in the Coral Sul FLNG, including those related to costs and execution time,” added the same Eni source.
A document released earlier, drawn up by Mozambique firm Consultec for Eni, points to an investment of $7 billion (€6.3 billion), subject to approval by Mozambique’s government.
If the schedule goes according to plan, the platform will begin production in the second half of 2027, meaning it could start up even before the onshore projects, which depend on security implications due to the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado.
Coral Norte will be stationed 10 kilometres north of Coral Sul, which started production in November last year, making it the first project to take advantage of the large reserves in the Rovuma basin.