Mozambique Oil & Gas Industry: Exxon Mobil, Qatar Petroleum pondering Anadarko natural gas assets acquisition

US group Anadarko Petroleum is studying the possible sale of natural gas assets in Mozambique with Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum having expressed interest in the deal, according to a report from the Reuters news agency, quoted by Macauhub.

The agency cited banking and industry sources as saying that the Anadarko Petroleum group may sell the entire 26.5 percent holding in the Area 1 concession of the Rovuma basin in northern Mozambique, where it discovered deposits of about 75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The group, which initially held 36.5 percent of the concession area, in 2013 sold a portion of 10 percent to Indian state group Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for US$2.64 billion.

The group planned to build a natural gas liquefaction unit in Palma, Cabo Delgado province, exporting the final product to countries in Asia, including India, China and Japan.

Earlier this month, John Peffer, the group’s director of the group to Mozambique, announced sales contracts would be signed soon that would make it possible to kick off the project for natural gas extraction and processing.

Peffer also said that final investment decision depends on the conversion of non-binding agreements into binding ones that the Anadarko Petroleum group has closed to export 8 million tons of natural gas per year to customers in Japan, China, Thailand and Singapore.