Mozambique has sent its first shipment of liquefied natural gas to the global market, Italian energy giant Eni announced on Sunday.
According to a statement, the historic shipment, which is headed straight for Europe, is expected to "contribute in a significant way to Europe’s energy security, also through the increasing diversification of supplies, while also supporting a just and sustainable transition.”
The International Energy Agency has previously stated that EU sanctions imposed in response to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine have caused shortages in Europe's liquefied natural gas markets and may generate "a winter of unprecedented uncertainty of supply", with a total pipeline shutdown not ruled out.
For his part, Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi hailed the first gas shipment produced at the offshore Coral Sul plant, saying that Mozambique "enters the annals of world history” as one of the LNG exporting nations.
He added that the shipment was the first as part of a contract with British energy giant BP, without offering further details.
Earlier, media reported that the British Sponsor vessel made her way into the northern waters of Mozambique on October 16, nearly two weeks after the Coral-Sul Floating LNG freighter, run by Eni, began generating the super-cooled fuel.
The platform can produce 3.4 million tons of fuel annually, supposedly almost equivalent to the UK's annual LNG imports. Coral South reserves are estimated at 450 billion cubic meters of gas. Gas production is carried out from a depth of 2,000 meters.
According to estimates, Mozambique could rank among the top 10 exporters in the world once all of the gas reserves are exploited. The African country depends heavily on natural gas resources off its northern coast, which were previously thought to be worth $120 billion in investments and were supposed to revolutionize the country's economy.
Both the French TotalEnergies SE and US ExxonMobil companies had planned to build onshore production facilities worth more than a combined $20 billion. However, both projects were stopped due to insurgencies in Mozambique. According to the latest estimates, the total volume of recoverable gas from the already explored areas is 2 trillion cubic meters.