Mozambique’s military ensures safety of Total’s LNG facility – Oil coy

French oil company Total is not disclosing the number of evacuated employees from the Afungi Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique, according to the company’s spokeswoman.

She told Sputnik on Monday that Mozambique’s military is ensuring the safety of its facility.

Earlier in the day, Total declared force majeure and the evacuation of all personnel from the project on the Afungi peninsula.

“We do not report the number of people … evacuated, but in December 2020, there were about 1,200 people at the facility.

“The security of the facility, as before, is ensured by the armed forces of Mozambique,” the spokeswoman said.

Mozambique LNG is projected to be the first onshore project in Mozambique.

It includes the development of the Golfinho and Atum fields and the construction of a two-line liquefaction plant with a total capacity of 12.9 million tonnes of LNG per annum and expansion potential of up to 43 million tonnes.

The start of production is scheduled for 2024.

Total is the operator of the project with a 26.5 percent share.

 

The cost of the project is estimated at $20 billion, the investment decision regarding it was made in 2019.

In late March, the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) took over the Palma town in Mozambique after several days of hostilities, killing an unknown number of people and displacing some 14,000 others.

In early April, the police of Mozambique told Sputnik that there were no militants in the town any longer.