The Matola Gas Company (MGC), in partnership with the French oil and gas company Total will undertake construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the southern Mozambican port of Matola.
The construction of an LNG terminal is intended to ensure uninterrupted supply of gas to more than 30 industries in the Maputo/Matola area, and in future for export to other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
Initially, the terminal will receive LNG from international market, but later the LNG will come from Mozambique’s own reserves in the Rovuma Basin in the far 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.
The Rovuma Basin LNG will replace gas from Pande and Temane which will go into decline as from 2024, as the reserves are gradually exhausted.
The construction of the terminal is expected to begin in Q1/2021, with an investment of USD 300 million. The initiative also seeks to anticipate strategically the regional market by creating LNG infrastructure in order to capitalise on business opportunities.