Three Major Mozambican Natural Gas Projects Scheduled to Come on Stream Successively Between 2028 and 2030

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Mozambique is advancing multiple large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects and plans to increase natural gas production capacity successively from 2028 onward. The Coral North project developed by Italy's Eni targets coming on stream in 2028; TotalEnergies' Mozambique LNG project has a planned annual capacity of 13.1 million tonnes and targets commercial operation in 2029; and the Rovuma LNG project led by ExxonMobil has a planned annual capacity of 18.6 million tonnes and targets coming on stream in 2030. Meanwhile, output from Mozambique's Pande-Temane gas fields continues to decline, and existing natural gas supplies to South Africa are expected to come under greater pressure from around 2028.

Mozambique's existing cross-border natural gas supply relies mainly on the Pande-Temane gas fields operated by Sasol and the 865-kilometer-long ROMPCO gas pipeline. The pipeline delivers natural gas to domestic users in Mozambique and to industrial enterprises in South Africa. As output from mature gas fields declines, the supply capacity of the existing pipeline gas is facing adjustment, while the new large-scale offshore natural gas projects in northern Mozambique are mainly oriented toward the LNG export market.

The Coral North project plans to commence drilling operations in November 2026 and to start production in the second half of 2028. The project arrangement allocates up to 25% of natural gas output for domestic use, of which 10% is reserved in the initial production period. The Rovuma LNG project, meanwhile, plans to make a final investment decision in the fourth quarter of 2026, with an investment scale of approximately US$30 billion and a potential domestic natural gas supply capacity of up to 500 million cubic feet per day. The above domestic supply quotas are project arrangements or potential supply scales and cannot be directly regarded as natural gas supply volumes already secured by South Africa.

Delivering new resources from the natural gas development zone in northern Mozambique to industrial markets in the south still requires the construction of supporting transportation infrastructure. The options involved in the original text include adding onshore gas transmission facilities, or achieving supply through coastal LNG shipping, regasification at receiving terminals and pipeline connections. The relevant projects need to secure natural gas offtake agreements, transportation arrangements, construction financing and cross-border export permits before they can form actual supply capacity for South African industrial users and power enterprises.