According to a company executive, the Rovuma liquefied natural gas export project, led by Exxon Mobil Corp. in Mozambique, it is on track for final approval in 2025.
“A lot depends on the security situation, which has been handled very well,” Peter Clarke, senior vice president of upstream oil and gas, told a conference in Vancouver on Tuesday. “The government is doing a good job and hopefully we will see more positive news in this regard as we move towards the end of the year,” Clarke said.
This is the first time Exxon has set a clear timeline for the project since reviving plans to build the onshore plant, which were halted in 2020 as an insurgency linked to the Islamic State raised security concerns. An approval by 2025 would set the project in motion to begin at the end of the decade. Originally envisioned as a plant that produced 15.2 million tons a year, Exxon now expects the plant to produce up to 18 million tons.
Exxon is looking to nearly double its LNG portfolio, which currently stands at 24 million tons a year worldwide, by 2030, either through new projects, joint ventures or third-party acquisition deals, Clarke said.
The Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea has progressed to the front-end engineering and design phase, according to Clarke. A final investment decision for the 6-million-tonne-a-year plant could be made as early as 2024, with commissioning expected in 2028, he said.
Clarke said the major would “selectively look” at new US LNG projects for a possible expansion of its LNG supply portfolio.
–With assistance from Kevin Crowley.
