Continental Focus, International Reach

Rovuma LNG FID Delayed until 2021

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Carlos Zacarias, the chairman of Mozambique’s National Petroleum Institute (INP) said that the final investment decision (FID) on the country’s planned $30 billion Rovuma LNG project would likely be taken by ExxonMobil in 2021.

Speaking at a press conference, Zacarias said, “The final investment decision of the Rovuma LNG project has been postponed to, in principle, next year.”

In late April, ExxonMobil announced that it is reducing its 2020 capital spending by 30 percent and lowering cash operating expenses by 15 percent in response to low commodity prices resulting from oversupply and demand weakness from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rovuma LNG project, which will produce from a deepwater block off Mozambique containing more than 85 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, was expected see its FID in H1 2020, but in March when the supermajor initially indicated Capex cuts were coming, that go ahead seemed unlikely in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic and non-economic oil prices.

ExxonMobil’s capital investments for 2020 are expected to be about $23 billion, down from the previously announced $33 billion. Reduced spending is being achieved through increased efficiencies, lower market prices, and slower project pace including the Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique.


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