Mozambique's huge off-shore gas field is controlled by two consortia. Area 1 nearest the coast is led by the French TotalEnergies and area 4 further off-shore by the US ExxonMobil, both of which have highest level political links in their counties. The gas is to be compressed to liquified national gas (LNG) by both companies on the Afungi Peninsula near Palma. The fall of Palma stopped work and it has not resumed. Total Energies head Patrick Pouyanne initially said he would only restart when the war stopped, but he is accepting Rwanda protection of just two districts. He then said he would only restart if contractors accepted the same prices as when the bid five years ago, and under pressure, most did. He talked about starting by mid-2024.

But in a 29 April report (LNG Prime) he said that “We had a good discussion with the contractors. So the good news I can confirm is that we’ve actually come back and we have good contracts with everyone". But the bad news is security. Some global funders, apparently including US Exim Bank and the Dutch Atradius, are not willing to release funds on security grounds. So Pouyanne again moved the start date, at least to the end of the this year.

Meanwhile ExxonMobil told Reuters (2 May) that it will not make a final investment decision on Cabo Delgado until the end of next year, 2025. It will also have funding issues, with Credit Agricole saying it would not fund Exxon in Cabo Delgado because of pressure on it to stop funding fossil fuel.

Both Exxon and Total are doing physical work on the ground and Exxon is commissioning a different type of LNG equipment. But no formal investment decision has been made.