The French oil major told Mozambique’s president on Friday that the Mozambique LNG consortium estimated its costs had risen by $4.5 billion in the four years the project has been on hold because of an Islamist militant attack in 2021.
TotalEnergies and its partners want the development and production period extended by 10 years as partial compensation.
If the cabinet approves those new terms, the consortium will restart construction of the project, which was previously estimated to cost $20 billion.
“When the government’s position is ready, it will be clear,” the spokesperson told reporters after the cabinet meeting, adding it was a priority for Mozambique to get gas projects up and running.
The spokesperson did not say when the new budget and schedule was expected to be discussed by cabinet.
Reporting by Custodio Cossa; Additional reporting by Manuel Mucari, Wendell Roelf and Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Alexander Winning and Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo – Reuters
