04 September 2013, Maputo – The American oil and gas company Anadarko is confident that it can maintain its original schedule for constructing liquefied natural gas, LNG, facilities in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, allowing the first exports of LNG to take place in 2018.
Speaking at the Maputo International Fair, FACIM, on 31 August, the Anadarko manager of corporate affairs, Roberto Abib, put the total investment required at between $25 and $30 billion – by far the largest investment made in any Mozambican industry.
The onshore processing units would produce between 3,000 and 5,000 barrels of LNG a day, during the projected 30-year life span of the project, said Abib.
Anadarko heads the consortium that has discovered large quantities of gas in Area 1 in the Rovuma Basin, off the Cabo Delgado coast. Similar discoveries have been made in the adjacent Area 4 by a consortium headed by the Italian energy company ENI.
Anadarko and ENI are working together to develop the processing facilities, and eventually to export the gas. The main markets are expected to be Japan and other consumers in the Far East.
Production wells must be drilled, and pipelines laid on the bed of the sea to carry the gas to land. In addition to the treatment and liquefaction plant (known as an LNG train), a port must be built for use by the cryogenic vessels that will move the LNG to the export markets.
An airport and housing for the work force are also among the infrastructures that are to be built.
The Anadarko/ENI plans will turn Mozambique into one of the world’s main producers of LNG.
The 30-year life span of the project is a conservative estimate, and it could be expanded by the discovery of further reserves.