Mozambique LNG talks hold up Exxon’s final investment decision

TotalEnergies’ CEO told investors on Thursday that its letter to the government had been misinterpreted, that the company will be able to quickly restart the project, and that the $4.5 billion cost increase is included in its $20.5 billion budget.

Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo visited the US this week and held talks at Exxon’s headquarters in Spring, Texas on Wednesday, but a scheduled press conference was cancelled.

In a press statement on Wednesday, he announced that the country had signed two memorandums of understanding with Exxon to evaluate domestic gas projects and build a training centre to develop the Mozambican workforce.

TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but pointed to September 29 comments from CEO Patrick Pouyanne in which he said Total coordinated closely with Exxon and both firms believed operations could restart quickly.