OVL, partners to invest $20 bn in Mozambique to monetise gas reserves

ONGC Videsh Ltd and its Indian as well as foreign partners have agreed to invest  $20 billion in constructing a gas liquefaction and export terminal in Mozambique to monetise vast offshore natural gas reserves they had found.

In separate but almost identical regulatory filings, Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) said their subsidiaries along with Anadarko Petroleum of the US has taken a final investment decision (FID) for Area-1 Mozambique LNG project.

The project will initially consist of two LNG trains with a total nameplate capacity of 12.88 million tonnes per annum. Feedgas will come from the Golfinho/Atum field in Offshore Area 1.

To be built on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado province, the project will also involve the construction of associated infrastructure, storage tanks, and export jetty facilities.

The LNG project will be fed with nearly 100 million cubic feet of natural gas a day from the Golfinho/Atum fields in the Rovuma Basin, which are set to be developed as part of the Offshore Area 1 gas project.

The project commissioning is planned for 2024.

"OVL, a wholly owned subsidiary of ONGC, the national oil company of India, announces that Rovuma Offshore Area-1 consortium has taken an FID for the two trains Golfinho/Atum Mozambique LNG Project," the company said in the filing.

"Mozambique LNG project will be the first onshore LNG facility in Mozambique consisting of initial two LNG trains with a total nameplate capacity of 12.88 million tonnes per annum supported by the development of the Golfinho/Atum fields located offshore entirely within Area-1."

OVL holds 16 per cent interest in Mozambique Rovuma Area-1 offshore project, while OIL holds 4 per cent stake. Bharat PetroResources Ltd, a unit of BPCL, holds 10 per cent interest in the project that is operated by Anadarko, which holds 26.5 per cent interest. Japanese company Mitsui has 20 per cent stake, Mozambique's state energy company ENH has 15 per cent interest and the remaining 8.5 per cent is with Thailand's PTT.

Anadarko and its partners have locked in long-term sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) from the project for a total of 11.1 million tonnes per year. They include SPAs with Tokyo Gas, Centrica, Shell, China's CNOOC, France's EDF and Indonesia's Pertamina, among others.

"Additionally, the project will have a significant domestic gas component for in-country consumption in Mozambique to help fuel the economic development," the OVL filing said. "The FID signifies that the Golfinho/Atum Mozambique LNG project will now advance to the construction phase."

Anadarko has agreed to be taken over by fellow US independent Occidental Petroleum. Once that deal goes ahead, Occidental has agreed to sell Anadarko's sub-Saharan African upstream assets, including the Mozambique LNG project to French oil giant Total SA in a $8.8 billion deal. The transaction, which is contingent upon Occidental completing its acquisition of Anadarko, is expected to close in 2020.

Anadarko has awarded TechnipFMC the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI), worth more than  $1 billion, of the subsea hardware system for the Golfinho/Atum development. Under the contract, TechnipFMC alongside its consortium partner Van Oord will carry out the offshore installation scope.