EXXON CHIEF SOUGHT SECURITY ASSURANCES FROM MOZAMBIQUE PRESIDENT AT UN

US oil major is in final stages of deciding whether to go ahead with $30bn LNG export terminal amid jihadist insurgency. ExxonMobil’s chief executive sought assurances from Mozambique’s president Daniel Chapo last week about security for a proposed $30bn gas terminal in the African nation ahead of a decision to greenlight the project. Darren Woods raised with Chapo the dangers posed by a jihadist insurgency in Mozambique’s north-eastern Cabo Delgado region, where Exxon is planning to build the continent’s largest liquefied natural gas facility. Jamie Smyth in New York and Sarah White and Ian Johnston in Paris

Rwandan police helped Mozambican forces push back an Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado, but violence has recently increased in the north-eastern region © AP

They also discussed plans by TotalEnergies to resume work on a nearby LNG facility being developed by the French oil major and lift a force majeure declaration that was issued four years ago following a deadly attack by Islamists in the region, according to sources with knowledge of the talks.

Exxon is the operator of Rovuma LNG, a joint venture backed by Italian energy giant Eni and China’s CNPC. The project plans to pump gas extracted from fields off the Mozambique coast to an onshore LNG facility, which would have an annual capacity of 18mn tonnes a year.

Work on Rovuma LNG — and Total’s neighbouring project — has been on hold since the massacre of 800 people by Islamist militants seeking to seize control of the town of Palma in 2021. Total is now seeking to restart its $20bn project, in the belief the security situation in the region has improved. Last year Exxon delayed its final investment decision on Rovuma LNG from late 2025 into 2026.

The meeting between Woods, Exxon’s head of upstream Dan Ammann and Chapo took place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the country’s president told the Financial Times in a statement.

“We strongly believe that the ExxonMobil project, if implemented, will make a huge difference in the economy of Mozambique and, as a consequence, in the life of Mozambicans,” Chapo said in an emailed statement.

Daniel Chapo speaks at last week’s UN General Assembly. The Mozambique president met Exxon chief Darren Woods on the sidelines of the assembly in New York © AFP via Getty Images

Total’s chief executive Patrick Pouyanné told investors on Monday that “everything is ready, in fact we are re-mobilising on the ground. The last piece of the decision is to officially lift force majeure”.

He said safety measures would be reinforced by security forces from Mozambique and Rwanda. Rwandan troops have been working in the region since 2021 to combat the insurgency alongside Mozambique’s forces, and have strengthened co-operation this summer.

The forces have sought to bolster security near the Afungi Peninsula, where the projects are based, although there has been an increase in violence across the vast Cabo Delgado region.

This has raised questions over plans by Total to lift force majeure — a contractual clause that releases businesses from obligations when unforeseen circumstances occur.

Last month the UN reported that recent attacks by armed groups had displaced tens of thousands of people in July, deepening an already dire humanitarian crisis in Cabo Delgado and straining limited aid supplies.

Friends of the Earth US, an environmental charity which has taken legal action against plans by the Trump administration to provide financial support for Total’s project, said restarting it would create a target for insurgents that could put surrounding communities at risk.

“Total is barrelling forward with Mozambique LNG at a time when violence has been increasing in the region. We are deeply concerned about the increased risk that the restarting of Mozambique LNG presents to the communities in the region,” said a Friends of the Earth US spokesperson.

An Exxon spokesperson said the company is working closely with Total, the Mozambique government and its partners in the Rovuma project to ensure the right conditions are met to enable a final investment decision on the development.

“These conditions include well-defined measures to mitigate impacts on local communities and the environment, support for local supply chains, development of a skilled local workforce and ensuring project competitiveness,” the spokesperson said.