Image: Financial Times
The Mozambique government has signed oil exploration agreements with Russian oil company Rosneft and U.S.-based energy firm, ExxonMobil.
The agreements are expected to draw investments of $700 million, with the firms planning to drill a minimum of ten wells, eight of those being offshore.
In addressing its debt, Mozambique is looking to tap into its oil and natural gas resources, with over $30 billion to be invested in Mozambique’s oil and gas sector. Through this solution, the country will build capacity to produce 20 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually.
Mozambique’s National Petroleum Institute – an energy regulator in the Southern African country, has said that it is preparing to sign similar agreements with South Africa’s Sasol and Italy’s Eni.
The country approved a series of contracts to major oil companies, including Equinor, Eni, ExxonMobil, Delonex Energy, Sasol and Mozambique’s national oil and gas company – with ENH having begun oil exploration activities in the Northern Zambezi basin, known as Block 5, in early August.