TotalEnergies Set To Revive Stalled $20B LNG Project In Mozambique

By Alex Kimani - Sep 23, 2025

• TotalEnergies is getting ready to resume work on its giant LNG project in Mozambique.
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• TotalEnergies is the main operator of the $20B LNG project, making it Africa’s largest private investment.
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• Islamic State-affiliated Jihadists remain active in Cabo Delgado province.

French oil and gas giant, TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE), is getting ready to resume work on its giant LNG project in Mozambique, even as an Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique continues with fresh attacks displacing tens of thousands of people in recent weeks. Total abandoned the project with a liquefaction capacity of 13.1 million metric tons per year four years ago due to insecurity. With a 26.5% stake, TotalEnergies is the main operator of the $20B LNG project, making it Africa’s largest private investment. India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) has secured rights to market LNG from the long-stalled project where it holds a 10% stake while three Indian public sector undertakings (PSUs) have a combined stake of 30%.

“While security concerns had delayed the project, conditions have improved now, and full-scale development is expected to resume soon,” BPLC managing director Sanjay Khanna said. “Once operational, the two-train LNG project will boost our upstream presence and support the energy transition. We have already secured LNG marketing rights in line with our 10% participating interest.”

Islamic State-affiliated Jihadists remain active in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, with Rwandan forces now expected to guard the Afungi site after Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo managed to secure a renewed security agreement with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame in August. Previously, Rwandan and Southern African Development Community (SADC) troops had successfully led counterinsurgency operations in the war-torn region, managing to reclaim key towns such as Mocimboa da Praia. Unfortunately, SADC forces withdrew a year ago due to funding shortfalls, giving the insurgents a chance to regroup and renew attacks.

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Work on Mozambique’s crown jewel has long faced delays due to insecurity. Back in 2010, Texas-based Anadarko Corp. --now a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY)--and Italian energy giant Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) announced the discovery of approximately 180 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, equivalent to ~29 billion barrels of oil, in Mozambique’s supergiant offshore basin of Rovuma, immediately catapulting the South African nation to a potential global LNG superpower. 

As you might expect, there was a stampede by oil and gas majors, including ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE), Shell (NYSE: SHEL), Eni, and China National Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: PTR) rushing in to stake their claims. But it was not long before terrorism and the long tail of the “hidden loans” corruption scandal, in which senior officials had formed state-owned companies that borrowed billions of dollars off-the-books, started to cast a pall on the economy and took a heavy toll on investor confidence. 

Mozambique eventually was able to get its projects off the ground, with first exports of LNG launched in November 2022 through the offshore Coral Sul FLNG Project, operated by Eni. This marked the country's first LNG shipment to the international market. However, whereas this smaller project is active, larger, land-based LNG projects, including TotalEnergies' giant project in Cabo Delgado, remain suspended due to security concerns.

And in the meantime, the security situation may be improved, but it is far from stable.

And in the meantime, the security situation may be improved, but it is far from stable. Insurgents linked to Islamic State have staged intermittent attacks in Cabo Delgado this year, including assaults on villages and ambushes along transport corridors that displaced thousands in July and August. Humanitarian groups report that nearly 120,000 people have been forced to flee since the start of 2025, underscoring how fragile gains remain despite Rwandan and Mozambican security deployments. Aid workers warn that while major towns are more secure than during the peak of violence in 2021, rural areas remain exposed, and any renewed escalation could once again jeopardize operations at the Afungi site.

Mozambique is just one of many African countries grappling with the so-called resource curse.

Last week, United Nations investigators on Tuesday unveiled rampant and systemic corruption by South Sudan’s ruling class, compounding the country’s security challenges and putting the pivotal oil-driven economy at severe risk. The global agency has accused South Sudanese authorities of plundering the country’s wealth, including bogus payments totaling $1.7 billion in the 2021-2024 period to companies linked with Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel for road construction contracts that were never delivered. The 101-page report uncovers how South Sudan's government disbursed ~$2.2 billion over a 3-year period through its off-budget "Oil for Roads" programme to companies affiliated with Bol Mel, shell companies, and elite military budgets--while over 90% of promised roads remain unbuilt and nearly two thirds of the country’s population of 12 million teeters on the edge of famine.

"The country has been captured by a predatory elite that has institutionalised the systematic looting of the nation's wealth for private gain," said the commission.

South Sudan produces ~150,000 barrels of oil per day, out of which it gives 10,000 barrels to Sudan as transportation fees because the oil has to go through Sudan to reach Port Sudan where it is loaded into cargo ships. In effect, Sudan receives ~$18 million from South Sudan’s oil every day. Two years ago, clashes broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over demands by the army and pro-democracy groups for RSF to become integrated into the regular armed forces. RSF has been demanding that South Sudan stop providing funds to the SAF, which might see the SAF retaliate by preventing the export of South Sudan’s oil through Port Sudan, which it controls. A complete meltdown would not only destabilize the region but also potentially lead to the collapse of the volatile state.

The world’s youngest nation is also one of the poorest, with grand corruption and never-ending civil strife sinking the economy. South Sudan's gross domestic product (GDP) fell from ~12 billion in 2011 when the country gained independence, to just $5.4 billion in 2024. 

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com