There is no doubt that the Mozambican government sees the security of the LNG projects as a vital national interest, but it is unlikely to attempt to guarantee that security with French or US troops

Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina is pulling out of an agreement to buy 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from the Total-led Mozambique LNG project in northern Mozambique

South African energy and chemicals company Sasol gave the green light for a $760m investment to develop new gas reserves in Inhambane on Friday

Total has suspended all construction work at its LNG project on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado following a spate of violent incidents close to the site

A new government study into how Mozambique will use its domestic gas allocation has already been overtaken by events, as Yara and Shell have both cancelled major projects to use the gas in Cabo Delgado

Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara International has abandoned plans to develop a fertiliser plant in Cabo Delgado — raising questions over the viability of the other domestic gas projects that the government hoped would drive economic development in the troubled province

Sasol’s spending on its Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) licence in Inhambane will nearly halve from an initially estimated $1.77 billion, to to $984 million, under an amended development plan approved by the Mozambique government at the end of September

The first phase of the Pemba Logistics Base (PLB) – intended to support oil and gas drilling and logistics in northern Mozambique – is close to being completed and the project, which has not yet secured any customers, is now bidding for work

The Resource Curse is a much talked about phenomenon, but what about the Presource Curse – when a country’s economy is derailed not by resource exports, but the mere prospect of them

Minister Max Tonela said the government must first improve regulations to allow “a better optimization or maximization of these resources for Mozambique” before launching the next oil and gas block round