The Woodlands-based Anadarko said Tuesday it made “meaningful progress” with its giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project – Mozambique LNG – as the Mozambique Council of Ministers approved the Development Plan submitted for Golfinho/Atum gas field during yesterday session.

 

“The objective is to allow the development of the natural gas liquefaction activity, in order to economically make feasible the exploration of Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin”, in the Indian Ocean, said Ana Comana, spokeswoman for the Council of Ministers.

The main expected gains “include the marketing of resources with an estimated revenue flow of $ 30.7 billion from tax and gas profits sharing by 2047,” the spokeswoman added.

The development of infrastructures, the creation of 1,500 jobs in the drilling, construction and operation phases are also pointed out by the spokesperson as the main gains of Mozambique with the project of Area 1, whose cost of financing is estimated at 12 billion of dollars.

The group of companies will explore the natural gas found deep in the earth’s crust under the seabed, 16 kilometers off the province of Cabo Delgado.

Once drilled, the gas will be piped to the industrial zone to be built on land on the Afungi peninsula, where it will be converted into liquid and conveyed to freighter ships with special containers for export.

The plan provides for two liquefaction lines, installed on land, with an annual production capacity of 12 .88 million tonnes per year of liquid natural gas.

At the same time, the process of resettlement of the population living on the Afungi peninsula began in November.

The US company said in its fourth-quarter report it completed the legal and contractual framework and began the resettlement process to prepare the onshore location for the future LNG park.

Anadarko said previously it was in talks to secure long-term LNG contracts and was boosting efforts to put in place the necessary financing for the project.

The company last year reached a 20-year sales and purchase agreement for 2.6 million tonnes of LNG per year with Thailand’s PTT. Japan’s Tohoku also signed a basic agreement to buy up to 280,000 tonnes per year of LNG from the Mozambique project for a period of 15 years.

Once the supply deals and financing are in place, the company expects to take a final investment decision (FID).

Anadarko and its partners have discovered more than 75 Tcf of natural gas resources in the Prosperidade and Golfinho/Atum complexes in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 1, which will be used to feed an onshore LNG terminal on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado province.

The discovered reserves in Mozambique are sufficient to support two initial LNG trains, each with a capacity of 6 mtpa, as well as to accommodate expansions, including additional trains capable of producing about 50 mtpa, according to Anadarko.

Besides Anadarko, partners in the Mozambique LNG project are Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area1, ONGC Videsh, Bharat PetroResources, PTT Exploration & Production and Oil India.  Source: LNG World News Staff