Mozambique expects the multinational companies which won the fifth international tender for Mozambique hydrocarbon research and production areas to invest US$700 million over the next few years, the president of the National Petroleum Institute (INP) has said.
Quoted by Notícias, Carlos Zacarias said that, during the negotiations, the companies selected in the tender asked for the incorporation of some features in the tax law and exchange rate regime, points that would form part of the contracts to be signed with the Mozambican government.
“In the case of the exchange rate regime, we are in contact with the Bank of Mozambique and we know that the process is underway,” the chairman of the INP’s board of directors said. In the last ten years alone, the mining multinationals operating in Mozambique alone invested around US$10 billion dollars.
The fifth international tender round for Mozambique hydrocarbon research and production areas was launched in 2014, with 11 areas in the Rovuma, Angoche and Mozambique offshore basins and the Pande-Tamane and Palmeira onshore fields, totalling 74,259 square kilometres, at stake.
The tender drew 21 proposals, with Exxon Mobil Mozambique and ENI Mozambique, Sasol Petroleun Mozambique and Delonex Energy being selected.
This was the first international tender launched by the Mozambican government since the discovery of natural gas reserves estimated at 200 billion cubic feet in the Rovuma basin in the north of the country.
Last week, an Anadarko source quoted by Bloomberg said that the multinational was discussing the sale of gas from Mozambique with Chinese companies in a process aimed at stimulating companies towards final investment decisions in LNG export projects.-COM
