Offshore Area 1 covers an area of 2.6 million acres off the coast of Cabo Delgado province, where the Texas based company Anadarko is the operator. It has already found between 35 and 65 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas.
Anadarko holds a 36.5 per cent share in Offshore Area 1. Its co-owners are Mitsui of Japan (20 per cent), BPRL Ventures of India (10 per cent) and PTT of Thailand (8.5 per cent). The Mozambican government is represented by Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) which holds a 15 per cent stake in the fields.
Any acquisition is subject to approval by the Mozambican government.
Anadarko is working with ENI, the Italian operator in neighbouring Offshore Area 4, on drawing up plans for a liquefied natural gas processing plant to commercialise the gas. This will not be operational until at least 2018.
Last week the chairperson of ENH, Nelson Ocuane, said that the LNG plant could cost between 14 and 20 billion dollars depending on how many units are built.
Oil India points out that such an LNG plant would be “strategically located to competitively supply LNG to India”, and that the two companies “participation in the project will facilitate access to the growing Indian gas market which will supplement the country's energy security endeavour”.
It added that “this investment is expected to further enhance the strong business and cultural links between Mozambique and India”.
Post published in: Africa News