Mozambique Oil & Gas: ExxonMobil to explore gas in area 4 of the Rovuma Basin

US Oil giant ExxonMobil will be a partner in the exploration of natural gas in area 4 of the Rovuma basin in the country, the chairman of the State Hydrocarbons company – ENH, Omar Mitha said according to daily newspaper Notícias.

Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin is currently operated by Italy’s ENI in partnership with Mozambique’s ENH, South Korea’s Kogas and Portugal’s GALP.

Mitha ranked ExxonMobil’s entry as a big gain mainly due to the company’s experience in the global production and distribution of natural gas.

“We are talking about a major” player “in the global gas market, so this entry is a clear sign that our country is desirable. It is also expected that the context will change because, at the moment it is not favourable, as there is an excess of supply against demand and also because there was a change from a technological point of view, with shale gas gaining a certain dominance in the market,” Mitha told Noticias.

“ExxonMobil is already working in Mozambique and we have had regular meetings as partners firstly in the fifth tender in which it has fields in Angoche and in the Sofala and Zambezi blocks and, secondly, in relation to its entry in Area 4,” said the Chairman of ENH’s Board of Directors giving assurances that, in the case of Area 4, the US company will not have a minority holding.

It should be noted that recently ENI and its partners signed a binding agreement for sale of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to BP Poseidon, a company fully controlled by BP Plc.

The Rovuma Basin is the most important in terms of gas reserves so far discovered in Mozambique representing about 180 trillion cubic feet of gas. A portion of these reserves are in Area 1, operated by Anadarko.

The exploration of these resources, as outlined in current plans, could put Mozambique among the world’s three largest producers of natural gas. (source: macauhub/mz)