Mozambique based Matola Gas Company (MGC) and French oil and gas company Total will construct a $300 million Liquified Natural gas (LNG) Terminal in Matola beginning in the first quarter of 2021.
The development is in anticipation of declining gas production from the Pande and Temane onshore gas fields in the Inhambane province.
“The Pande and Temane gas will come to an end, and it must be replaced by finding other sources,” says MGC Chief Executive Officer, Bruno Morgado. “That’s why we are going to push ahead with building an LNG terminal. We have to find a solution so that we can continue supplying gas to industries and to power stations in the southern region of the country.”
The construction is intended to ensure the uninterrupted supply of gas to more than 30 industries in the Maputo/Matola region with future objectives of exportation to other Southern African Development Community countries.
Initially, the terminal will receive LNG from the international market. Thereafter, LNG will come from Mozambique’s own reserves in the Rovuma Basin, in the north of the country. Total is the operator of Rovuma Basin Area One and heads the consortium that will produce LNG at plants built on the Afungi peninsula, in Palma District.
“Building an LNG terminal in southern Mozambique is crucial to attract businesses within the region,” states Morgado, “otherwise other countries will step in with similar initiatives in which Mozambique will become a victim rather than a protagonist. This could be disastrous for the economy and for ensuring the viability of businesses in energy and in other sectors. If we don’t build an LNG import terminal, South Africa may advance before we do, and Mozambique could be squeezed out.”
The construction of the terminal will not only address the crisis of declining gas production, but will position Mozambique as a major competitor, attracting business in the southern region of the country, and allowing future exports that will benefit the whole economy.