Militants Add to Total's Pressures in Mozambique

摘要

Total's decision to withdraw workers from Mozambique LNG after a new wave of militant attacks on nearby towns increasingly suggests the 13.12 million ton per year project will be delayed past its scheduled 2024 opening date. The attacks, close to the project site in the Afungi Peninsula in northeast Cabo Delgado province, raise further questions about Mozambique's ability to contain an Islamist insurgency that appears to be gathering strength across the region (WGI Nov.4'20). Total, which has been in charge of the project since it bought out Anadarko's 26.5% interest in September 2019, said earlier this month that it was pulling out workers due to the "evolving security situation" in Cabo Delgado, in close co-operation with the authorities in Maputo. Total would not say how many workers it had evacuated, nor when they might return. But with the insurgents getting ever closer to the project site — last week's incursions reportedly took place just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the perimeter — it may be months before employees can return safely.