Macomia attack “raises doubts” among investors

Mozambique

“The Macomia attack will raise questions in the minds of decision-makers at TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, who, along with partner Eni, were due to make a final investment decision on another project very soon,” reads a commentary on the latest attacks in northern Mozambique, an area that holds vast natural gas reserves.

“The developments will also have caused dismay in Maputo,” the analysts added in the commentary sent to investors, and which Lusa had access to.

They recalled that Mozambique’s sovereign wealth fund has already received “US$94.2 million (€87.2 million) in revenue from gas and oil exploration, with US$20 million (€18.5 million) of the total having been raised in the first quarter of this year alone”.

The government, they concluded, “is desperate to convince investors to move forward with the announced projects and knows that further delays will only further delay the development promised by gas exploration”.

The Mozambican Ministry of National Defence confirmed on Friday a “terrorist attack” in the early hours of the morning on the town of Macomia, assuring that one of the group’s leaders was wounded by the armed forces and another killed.

“The attack lasted about 45 minutes and the terrorists were promptly repelled by the coordinated action of our forces, which forced the enemy to retreat towards the interior of the administrative post of Mucojo,” reads a statement from the Ministry of National Defence.

The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, had already confirmed, at the end of Friday morning, this attack on the district headquarters of Macomia, explaining that it took place in an area previously controlled by the military of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission, which is gradually withdrawing until July.

“It is true that it is an area occupied by our brothers who support us, in retreat. But those on the ground are 100% Mozambicans. Maybe there could be a reinforcement (…). As they are leaving. I hope we can organise ourselves better, because the transition time allows for that,” he acknowledged, praising the ongoing intervention of the Mozambican military.

The town of Macomia is located on National Road 1 (N1), which connects to the northernmost districts of Muidumbe, Nangade, Mueda, Mocímboa da Praia and Palma, so this attack also interrupts land communication to the five districts.

Since October 2017, the province has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State, which led TotalEnergies to suspend the construction of a liquefied natural gas plant in 2021.

In February, the president of the French oil company said he expected to return later this year, but made the resumption of work conditional on security guarantees, warning that if he had to stop work again, the project would probably be abandoned.

Mozambique has three approved development projects for the exploration of natural gas reserves in the Rovuma Basin, classified as one of the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.

Two of these projects, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, are larger in scale and plan to pipe gas from the seabed to land, cooling it in a plant to export it by sea in liquid form.

Read Also: Mozambique works to clarify circumstances of ambassador’s death (Portuguese version)

Crédito: Link de origem

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