Cabo Delgado News

The art of drawing lines on maps is fraught with contention. Sir Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot are likely unfamiliar to many, but their names and actions live on. Their role in carving up the Ottoman Empire toward the end of the of World War I created artificial borders in the Middle East—determined arbitrarily with a ruler and with no regard to ethnic or sectarian characteristics—highlights the unintended cartographic consequences that can arise when applying rigid models of expression to inherently dynamic areas.Designated areas of maritime risk…

What are the implications of the conflict in Cabo Delgado for maritime security in East Africa and the Mozambique Channel?Following the recent attacks on the coastal town of Palma in March-April by Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamamah (ASWJ) insurgents in Mozambique’s troubled Cabo Delgado region, it is pertinent to assess the future trajectory of the conflict in the commercial maritime domain and the challenges it may pose to trade within the region. During the battle for Mocimboa da Praia…

A boat carrying more than 1,000 survivors of a highly organized, deadly attack by Islamic State-linked insurgents in northern Mozambique arrived in the port of Pemba on Thursday, a Reuters reporter and a diplomatic source said.Aid workers were at the crowded port to give food to those disembarking from the green and white ferry, while police and soldiers kept control of crowds of people excited to see their relatives rescued after the attack that began last week in Palma, the reporter said.Islamist insurgents have been increasingly active in the surrounding province of Cabo Delgado since 2017…

More than 40 people were feared to have drowned in Mozambique's conflict-torn north after their boat sank, the administrator of an island district said on Tuesday.Almost 400,000 people have fled their homes in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, according to the World Food Programme. Home to gas projects worth some $60 billion, the province is also the target of an Islamist insurgency with links to Islamic State that has flourished since 2017.The boat was carrying 74 people fleeing the violence when it sank on Sunday in the Indian Ocean between the islands of Ibo and Matemo…

Islamist insurgents have captured a heavily-defended port in the far northern Mozambique town of Mocimboa da Praia, close to the site of natural gas projects worth some $60 billion, local media reported on Wednesday.It was one of several attacks on the town - 60 km (37 miles) south of the projects being developed by oil majors like France's Total - this year as insurgents with links to Islamic State have stepped up attacks in the region.

Eni-operated Coral South FLNG project is making progress with the first topside module installed aboard the hull of the under-construction FLNG unit destined to develop offshore gas fields in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, Mozambique.Coral FLNG SA, an Eni-led JV developing the project, said Wednesday that the power generation module had been lifted aboard the hull, marking the start of the integration between the hull, launched in January, and the massive topside (12 process modules of around 70…

Ocean LNG has dominated in terms of long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) import volumes for contracts signed by key purchasing companies for the year 2019, with almost 47% of the global contracted capacity.According to a report by GlobalData, Ocean LNG signed the biggest long-term LNG contract for 2019 with Golden Pass Products. According to the contract, Golden Pass Products will supply Ocean LNG with 15.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG for a period of 20 years, from 2024 to 2044.The gas will be supplied from the Golden Pass II LNG liquefaction terminal in Texas, US, it said.Sunrita Dutta, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, explains: “Ocean LNG is a joint venture (JV) between Qatar Petroleum, which owns a 70% stake, and Exxon Mobil Corporation, with 30%.

Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV) has awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to a consortium of Fluor, JGC, and TechnipFMC for its Mozambique Rovuma LNG Phase 1 project in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.MRV, a joint-venture composed of Eni, ExxonMobil and CNPC, holds a 70% interest in the exploration and production concession of Area 4, with Galp, Kogas and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) each holding a 10% interest.The Rovuma LNG Project will produce, liquefy and market natural gas from three reservoirs of the Mamba complex located in the Area 4 block in the Offshore Rovuma Basin. It includes the construction of two natural gas liquefaction trains…

Italy's ENI and U.S. oil and gas firm Anadarko signed agreements with the Mozambique government on Thursday to build two liquefied natural gas terminals in the southern African country. The terminals will be built in Cabo Delgado province, where Mozambique has made massive gas discoveries that could transform it from a poor African country into a major energy supplier to Asia. The agreements were signed by Mozambique's energy minister Letícia Klemens and the regional heads of ENI and Anadarko, a Texas-based oil producer. The two companies will separately build their own terminals, Klemens told a press conference. She declined to give the size of the investments.

More than $30 billion will be invested initially in Mozambique's natural gas sector to build capacity to produce 20 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with the first exports due to start in 2018, the national oil company said. The investments will be made to develop the northern ports of Pemba and Palma, where a giant logistics base and LNG production plants are planned that will use gas produced from offshore fields in the Rovuma Basin being developed by U.S. oil major Anadarko Petroleum Corp and Italy's Eni. Mozambique, which still bears the scars of a 1975-1992 civil war, is hoping revenues from its large gas deposits and its fledgling coal mining industry will help it emerge from years of poverty and dependence on foreign donors.