TotalEnergies’ CEO Patrick Pouyanne and Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo held talks on the long-delayed Mozambique LNG project during an energy conference on January 28, Reuters reported.

Chapo is pushing hard to get the stalled Mozambique LNG project back on track as the facility would provide a key lifeline for the country’s struggling economy.

However, the French supermajor is hesitant about restarting construction on the project until the security situation stabilises in the country.

Mozambique has dealt with an eight-year Islamist insurgency in the northeastern Cabo Delgado region, where the $20bn project is located. Meanwhile, the country has also been engulfed in post-election violence since October.

Pouyanne and Chapo met on the sidelines of the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam holding talks not only on the future of the Mozambique LNG project, but also discussing possible gas-to-power projects and progress on the $5bn Mphanda Nkuwa hydropower project.

TotalEnergies is developing the 1,500-MW project together with Electricite de France and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation, which is expected to be completed by 2030.

The talks between Chapo and Pouyanne were fruitful, with the latter reaffirming the French supermajor’s commitment to restarting construction work on Mozambique LNG, which has been stalled since early 2021 following a terror attack at the site.

Indeed, Chapo has not been shy on the importance for the country’s economy of moving the Mozambique LNG project ahead and is hopeful construction works can be restarted soon to get the project back on a trajectory to be finished by 2029.

The 12.8mn tonne per year (tpy) Mozambique LNG facility would be Africa’s biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) and would play a critical role in Mozambique’s goal of becoming a major gas exporting country.

Maputo projects that at peak levels in the 2040s Mozambique’s gas exports could bring in more than $6bn a year.