French energy firm TotalEnergies plans to restart its long-delayed $20 billion Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the first quarter of next year, two sources told Reuters late on Friday.
Work on the project has been halted since 2021 when a
violent insurgency led by Islamic State-linked militants threatened the Cabo
Delgado site, leading to TotalEnergies declaring force majeure and halting
construction.
In September, chief executive officer at TotalEnergies,
Patrick Pouyanne, said the company planned to restart before the end of this
year, as the security situation improved with the support a regional military
force including Rwanda.
"TotalEnergies have indicated that they want to restart
their Mozambique LNG project in January 2024," a government source close
to the process said, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the
matter.
The ongoing violence in the northern Mozambican province has
claimed thousands of lives since it broke out in 2017, disrupting
multibillion-dollar investments including the $20 billion LNG project in which
TotalEnergies has a 26.5% stake.
"TotalEnergies has asked funders to get approval for
the restart of the Mozambique LNG project in the first quarter of 2024,"
said a second funding source with direct knowledge of the project.
The project, which will help transform the economic fortunes
of the impoverished southern African country, has faced criticism from
environmental activists who last month urged funders to withdraw their
financial support.
TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to an
out-of-office request for comment.