Despite repeated promises that work would resume “soon” on the Cabo Delgado gas, little is happening. Offshore Area 1 is shared by consortia headed by the French TotalEnergies and the US ExxonMobil. The $20 billion base to convert gas to liquified national gas (LNG) was being built onshore on the Afungi peninsula just south of Palma, but work stopped after insurgents captured Palma in 2021. TotalEnergies is moving first, and ExxonMobil says it will start a year after TotalEnergies restarts. TotalEnergies says it will restart once it converts the site into a fortress with no land access. All people and supplies must arrive by air or sea.
The reason for the present delay is unclear, but it seems that TotalEnergies has not yet come to an agreement with Frelimo and the Mozambique government. Before the 2021 Palma occupation, gas contractors and staff were based in Palma town which had become a boom town. Total Energies says all staff and contractor teams must be based inside the fortress. From Frelimo oligarchs down to Palma service, hotel and restaurant operators there is a fear that they are being shut out of the project, reducing local income and jobs.
Local businesses in Palma announced a strike starting today (Wednesday 10 September). Maxime Rabiloud, the Managing Director in Mozambique of TotalEnergies, on Saturday (6 September) met business owners from Palma district. “I want to make it clear there is no intention of reducing purchases from local businesses,” he said. Although there is no official restart, there are 2000 workers already on site preparing the fortress and LNG base. Rabilloud stressed that much of the food for those 2,000 workers in Afungi is already purchased in Palma, both from agricultural producers and other local suppliers.
But equally important Total Energies on 1 September signed an agreement to give the Northern Integrated Development Agency (ADIN) $10mn for development initiatives in Palma and Mocimboa da Praia districts. ADIN is tightly controlled by senior Frelimo people in Maputo, who will see the $10mn as a way to appease the Cabo Delgado oligarchs.
