Gas exploration

The director of the Oil and Gas Department at Standard Bank said on Wednesday that natural gas exploration in Mozambique had three unique advantages that wold guarantee the project’s success.

“There are three unique aspects to gas exploration in Mozambique, which are the fact that the country is in the middle of the map and is ideal for exporting to Asia and Europe, having a large concentration of reserves in a small geographical area and not being aligned with no political jurisdiction and can therefore sell to all countries,” Paul Taylor said.

In a webinar on natural gas exploration in Mozambique, the head of oil and gas investment at Standard Bank notes that “Mozambique is just four levels below South Africa in terms of its Standard & Poor’s rating”, and it was hoped that there would be favourable developments in the sector in the second half of this year. Regarding the main threats to the project, Taylor listed the Covid-19 pandemic and the armed attacks in the north of the country, but said he thought the spread of Covid-19 was “controlled”, while admitting that combating the armed groups was more difficult.

“It is a multifaceted, complex issue, which involves religious fundamentalism, heroin smuggling and the isolation of the province. It is being fought not only by the country, but by the region, in a consistent and coherent way, but it will not disappear overnight,” he ventured.

Certainly, in Taylor’s opinion, “the US$125 billion investment [€115 billion] up until the middle of this decade, could lead to huge and sustainable development in the country”. The virtual conference organised by Africa Oil Week, an organization for the promotion of events and investments in Africa, also included the participation of representatives from the United States Export Bank and consultants Global Platts and Deloitte.