Mozambique Rejects TotalEnergies' $2 Billion Surcharge at LNG Super Project

 A new wave of tension is engulfing the relationship between the Mozambican government and French energy giant TotalEnergies. The focus of the controversy revolves around the $20 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, when officials of this African country firmly refused the $2 billion figure that the partner requested to pay due to delays in the construction process.

Deep Disagreement Surrounding the Independent Audit Report

According to internal sources revealed by Bloomberg, the Mozambican government currently does not accept TotalEnergies' estimate of the huge damage of up to 2 billion USD that this group and its partners say they must suffer.

The main reason that strengthens Mozambique's stance comes from a recent independent audit report. Specifically, the consulting company Bayphase (based in the UK) conducted a review of the books butcannot confirmthe reasonableness of the costs listed by TotalEnergies as a consequence of project suspension. The lack of definitive evidence from an independent third party prompted Mozambican authorities to suspend approval of these fees.

This bottleneck is directly hindering the adoption of the "Updated Development Plan". Without financial consensus, the project will not be able to proceed to the next steps on the ground.

Historical Context: Security Crisis and "Force Majeure"

To understand the origin of the $2 billion fee, it is necessary to look back at the serious security fluctuations in the project area. The Mozambique LNG project – which was Africa's largest foreign direct investment at the time of its announcement – ​​is located near the town of Palma, in Cabo Delgado province.

In the spring of 2021, the region became the target of a series of violent attacks by militants linked to the Islamic State (IS). Faced with a dangerous situation to human lives and property, TotalEnergies was forced to declare force majeure (force majeure) and suspend all construction work.

It took nearly 5 years, when the security situation was under control, for TotalEnergies to lift the force majeure situation at the end of last year and officially restart the project in January 2026. However, the consequence of this delay is a huge financial problem.

Table 1: Timeline of Movements of the Mozambique LNG Project

Importance Against Economic Challenges

The vital importance of this mega project to the Mozambican economy cannot be denied. As one of the poorest countries in Africa, Mozambique puts all its trust in LNG exports to reform the economy, create tens of thousands of jobs and contribute abundant gas supplies to the global market in the long term.

Table 2: General Profile of Mega Project (Fact Sheet)

Tương Lai Nào Cho Mối Quan Hệ Hợp Tác?

Hiện tại, chính phủ Mozambique và các nhà phát triển dự án vẫn đang ngồi vào bàn đàm phán. Theo các chuyên gia kinh tế, khả năng đạt được một thỏa thuận chung vẫn còn nguyên vẹn, bởi cả hai bên đều không muốn một dự án trị giá 20 tỷ USD bị chôn vùi.

Tuy nhiên, cuộc đàm phán này đòi hỏi sự minh bạch tối đa về sổ sách kế toán từ phía TotalEnergies, cũng như những bước lùi chiến thuật từ cả hai phía. Chỉ khi giải quyết được rào cản 2 tỷ USD này, Mozambique mới có thể thực sự hiện thực hóa giấc mơ vươn lên thành cường quốc xuất khẩu năng lượng của lục địa đen.

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