TOTAL PULLS STAFF FROM MOZAMBIQUE GAS SITE AS ATTACKS DRAW NEAR PROJECT

Sat 02 January 2021:

Total, France’s largest energy company, said on Saturday it has evacuated some staff from a major gas project in northern Mozambique province of Cabo Delgado, which has been the scene of a bloody jihadist rebellion for more than three years.

Fighters linked to Islamic State raided a town less than 5 kilometers from the construction camp this week of what is Africa’s largest private investment, ratcheting up risks for the planned LNG export terminal on Mozambique’s northern coastline. While the heavily guarded site hasn’t been attacked yet, militants have made threats that they may do so.

“The Total-led Mozambique LNG Project has temporarily reduced its workforce on-site in response to the prevailing environment, including ongoing challenges associated with COVID-19 and the security situation in northern Cabo Delgado,” the company said in a statement.

Around 3,000 people were working at the site at the end of December, most of them employed by contractors.

Military sources say that jihadists carried out at least four raids in December just a few kilometres from the gas project, which is still being built and is not due to go online until 2024.

The coronavirus pandemic has further weighed on the decision to reduce personnel, Total said. The Mozambique LNG project, set to start production in 2024, was the site of the country’s first coronavirus cases in April, which led to works being suspended until June.

There was a new outbreak detected at the project last month, Maputo-based news website @Verdade reported. Total has a 26.5% shareholding in the project that it bought for $3.9 billion in September 2019. Six other international businesses are also involved.