ExxonMobil Moçambique, acting for the Area 4 co-venturers, awarded about $1.1 billion in pre-investment contracts on Aug. 17 for Phase 1 of the Rovuma LNG project in Cabo Delgado, where work has been suspended since insurgents overran the nearby town of Palma in March 2021. The onshore plant is designed for 18.6 million tonnes a year.
This is not the Western venture it is generally called: Area 4 is Mozambique’s state company ENH together with China’s CNPC, Italy’s Eni, Korea’s KOGAS and Abu Dhabi’s XRG, with ExxonMobil as delegated operator.
Three days before the award, Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, closed a ten-day visit to Mozambique by urging the government and its partners to “ensure communities in Cabo Delgado benefit fairly from the province’s rich natural resources, effectively regulate extractive industries, and strengthen inclusive governance.” A purely military solution was unlikely, he said, after nine years of fighting.
Mozambique is preparing to ship 18.6 million tonnes of gas a year abroad. As of 2023, about 17% of its people had access to clean cooking fuel, according to the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association. Five in six still cook over wood and charcoal.
Mozambique has nearly doubled its electrification rate in six years, reaching 66.4% in 2025. As of 2023 only about 17% of the population had access to clean cooking fuel, according to the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association. Five Mozambicans in six still cook over wood and charcoal. Maputo proposed a law in May to reserve a quarter of its LNG for its own people.
