Mozambique’s first LNG export shipment arrives at Spanish port

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA)- A tanker carrying Mozambique’s first-ever liquified natural gas (LNG) export arrived at the port of Bilbao in Spain on Wednesday.

The shipment is chartered by British oil and gas company BP, which agreed to purchase 100% of the LNG output from Mozambique’s new offshore facility for the next 20 years.

According to BP, the Coral Sul offshore facility — the first facility of its kind in Africa — can produce up to 3.4 million tons of LNG each year.

This LNG shipment is a milestone for Mozambique, the country with the third-lowest GDP per capita in the world, according to World Bank data.

“Today, Mozambique enters the annals of world history as one of the countries that export liquefied natural gas, which, in addition to representing an alternative source of supply, contributes greatly to the energy security of the countries with the highest consumption,” said Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi in a statement when the shipment left the country in mid-November.

As Europe seeks natural gas to replace the Russian supply, Italian oil producer Eni said in November that it is in talks to develop further offshore LNG facilities in Mozambique, as well as onshore projects.

TotalEnergies is also seeking to resume its $20-billion project to build Mozambique’s first onshore LNG facility, which would be able to produce four times more LNG than the Coral Sul facility.

However, that project was derailed last year by terrorism and violence in the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province.

Mozambique holds one of Africa’s largest known natural gas reserves, and the IMF points to LNG exports as a key source of the country’s growth.