Mozambique due to become oil producer in 2014

JANUARY 6TH, 2014 FEATURES

Mozambique is due this year to become an oil producing country and significant progress is also expected to be made in natural gas and coal production, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

A small oil discovery next to the Temane gas field, in Inhambane province (south), will allow South African petrochemical company Sasol to launch oil production this year, said the EIU’s latest report on the Mozambican economy, to which Macauhub had access.

“The oil field is the first to produce oil commercially in Mozambique, where so far there have only been viable natural gas discoveries,” the report said.

The project will produce around 2,000 barrels of oil per day, which is a small amount commercially-speaking, but makes it possible to “diversify Mozambique’s export base,” it noted.

As well as this, Sasol’s representatives have already said that oil reserve estimates may be increased, as exploration activities are already underway in the area.

According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Mozambique has around 4.5 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, but until the beginning of last year had no oil reserves at all.

The country has extensive onshore and offshore sedimentary basins containing natural gas, most of which has yet to be explored, as well as significant coal reserves, which are considered to be the biggest in the world.

William Telfer, an oil and gas specialist told DW Africa that the discovery “is very viable” and that 100 similar wells were the equivalent of Angola and Nigeria’s production.

“It’s not small, it’s very good. And we are soon going to hear about new discoveries that will increase the amount of wells,” said the specialist.

“Gross domestic product will increase. We have an excellent Finance minister and excellent deputy minister. A very strong staff. Mozambique is prepared to start exploring large quantities of oil,” he said.

Despite the announcement, the Economist kept its estimates for economic and export growth in the 2014-2018 period unchanged, as they already take into account substantial investments in the extractive industries and greater weight of exports.

Along with this Sasol is increasing production as its gas fields in Pande and Temane which is “welcome news for the nascent Mozambican energy sector,” and a “sign of confidence,” from an important foreign investors at a time that is sensitive in terms of both politics and security.

Sasol is investing in a number of areas, including increasing the capacity of its gas pipeline to South Africa (US$184 million) and a gas-fired power plant at the Ressano Garcia border (US$246 million).

The EIU for this year points to growth of the Mozambican economy of 6.5 percent, rising to 7.3 percent this year and 7.6 percent in 2015.

The industrial sector is expected to make the biggest contribution to economic growth over the next two years: 9 percent growth in 2014 and 14 percent in 2015. (macauhub)

Redes de transportes transnacionais em África recebem investimento de 1 bilião de dólares liderado pela China

2014/01/13    DESTAQUES

As redes de transportes transnacionais, atravessando países como Angola e Moçambique, deverão ser as principais beneficiárias do investimento de 1 bilião de dólares liderado pela China em África nos próximos 12 anos.

“Temos muito dinheiro para aplicar”, afirmou no final do ano passado o quadro superior do Banco de Exportações e Importações (ExIm) da China, Zhao Changhui, na Cimeira de Investimento Africano (Hong Kong), de onde saiu o compromisso de serem aplicados 1 bilião de dólares pela China e pelos bancos públicos dos países beneficiários.

Deste total, 80% virá do Banco ExIm, destinando-se à construção de auto-estradas transnacionais, linhas de caminhos-de-ferro e aeroportos e, de acordo com Zhao, 500 mil milhões podem ser aplicados no antigo projecto de ligação ferroviária do Cairo à Cidade do Cabo.

Para Robert I. Rotberg, professor da Paterson School of International Affairs da Carleton University (Otava, Canadá), os investimentos e apoio chinês em África vão tornar-se “ainda mais valiosos” nos próximos anos para a continuação do crescimento económico, com a expansão prevista da população africana, em países como a Nigéria ou a República Democrática do Congo.

“Felizmente, a China parece vocacionada para fortalecer a sua parceria com países chave em África (…) O investimento chinês pode ajudar o povo africano a continuar a atingir elevados níveis de vida e muito mais independência económica”, disse Rotberg em artigo na folha de informação China-US Focus, em análise ao encontro de Hong Kong.

Num sinal da importância dada às relações com África, o ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros da China, Wang Yi, escolheu o continente africano para a sua primeira visita em 2014, concluída a 11 de Janeiro, que incluiu Etiópia, Djibouti, Gana e Senegal.

“Também é a primeira visita realizada pelo ministro à África a sul do Saara após a tomada de posse da nova administração da China”, sublinhou o porta-voz do Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros chinês, Qin Gang.

No final do ano passado, um novo acordo de cooperação económica e técnica Angola-China foi rubricado em Luanda pela secretária de Estado para a Cooperação, Ângela Bragança, e pelo embaixador da China em Angola, Gao Kexiang.

No âmbito do acordo, a China vai prestar uma ajuda não reembolsável ao governo angolano, no montante de 200 milhões de yuan, que será aplicado na reconstrução do Hospital Geral de Luanda.

Em declarações à imprensa, Ângela Bragança referiu que se trata de mais um passo para consolidar a parceria estratégica entre os dois países, enquanto o diplomata chinês garantiu que a assinatura deste acordo mostra o interesse de Pequim em continuar a participar no processo de desenvolvimento de Angola.

A China dispõe de reservas externas de cerca de 3,5 mil milhões de dólares, que podem ser aplicadas em investimentos directos em países africanos, empréstimos comerciais ou assistência financeira.

Entre os projectos a serem negociados inclui-se um “corredor aéreo” com a República Democrática do Congo, composto por uma ou mais companhias aéreas e uma rede de aeroportos regionais, que permitiria ao país ultrapassar as suas dificuldades em termos de transportes.

Segundo Rotberg, o Banco ExIm quer também virar-se para investimentos agrícolas, dada a grande disponibilidade de terras férteis disponíveis, contribuindo para alimentar o continente e também para criar uma indústria, cujo valor pode saltar dos actuais 280 mil milhões de dólares para 880 mil milhões nos próximos anos.

“Uma vez que a África a sul do Saara será a parte do mundo com mais rápido crescimento até 2100, qualquer coisa que a China possa fazer para ajudar o continente a ter melhores infra-estruturas, cultivar alimentos, electrificar as suas redes e obter água potável para consumo e irrigação, irá melhorar o bem-estar dos africanos e a prosperidade dos respectivos países”, refere o investigador. (macauhub)

Compartilhe esta notícia:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Notícias relacionadas:

1. Pequim lança fundo de investimento de mil milhões de dólares para África
2. China vai continuar a apoiar o investimento em África
3. China: Comércio com África deverá chegar aos 100 mil milhões de dólares antes de 2010
4. Projectos económicos em Angola podem maximizar impacto de sistemas de transportes construídos pela China
5. Financiamento pela China de infra-estruturas em África é vital para estimular crescimento económico – Banco Mundial

Japão vai pagar construção de central de ciclo combinado em Maputo, Moçambique

2014/01/15    NOTÍCIAS

O Japão vai contribuir com 17,3 milhões de dólares para financiar a construção, em Maputo, de uma central eléctrica de ciclo combinado, informou terça-feira em comunicado a embaixada do Japão em Moçambique.

A mesma nota refere que o complexo em perspectiva está inserido no projecto de desenvolvimento do sector de energia designado “Maputo Gas Fired Combined Cycle Power Plant”, que consiste na construção de uma unidade para a produção combinada de energia eléctrica.

O acordo para a viabilização deste projecto foi assinado no passado domingo, no decurso da visita do primeiro-ministro do Japão, Shinzo Abe.

Na ocasião, o presidente da estatal Electricidade de Moçambique recordou que cerca de 99% da energia que o país produz tem origem em recurso hídricos, “o que é arriscado, uma vez que num ano de seca podemos ter problemas no que respeita ao fornecimento de energia.”

Dizendo que uma central a gás introduz um factor de segurança no fornecimento de energia eléctrica, Augusto Fernando disse que a central de ciclo combinado poderá começar a funcionar em 2018, indo garantir cerca de um terço do actual consumo da cidade de Maputo.

Uma central de ciclo combinado é uma central eléctrica em que a energia térmica do combustível é transformada em electricidade através de dois ciclos termodinâmicos – o correspondente a uma turbina de gás, habitualmente natural, mediante combustão e convencional de água/turbina de vapor. (macauhub)

Compartilhe esta notícia:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Notícias relacionadas:

1. EDP – Energias de Portugal estuda construção de central eléctrica de ciclo combinado em Angola
2. Japão vai pagar construção de terminal de gás no porto de Maputo, Moçambique
3. Governo de Moçambique quer envolver empresários nacionais na construção da central eléctrica de Moatize
4. Mini-central dos Pequenos Libombos vai colocar energia eléctrica na rede da Electricidade de Moçambique
5. Japão vai pagar novo mercado de peixe em Maputo, Moçambique

Japan loans Mozambique $672m

Jan 13 2014 19:00 Reuters

 

(Shutterstock)

RELATED ARTICLES

Japan PM eyes Mozambique energy sector

Tokyo investors to keep cautious tone

Moz denies Rwandan spy murder arrests

Japan's tourist towns want casinos

Mozambican workers go on strike

Mozambique clash leaves at least 2 dead

Maputo - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says his country is to lend Mozambique $672m over five years to help boost its economy.

The Asian nation wants to ensure access to the East African country's rich coal and gas reserves.

The former Portuguese colony has seen a spike in foreign investment since it hit on huge gas reserves and hopes to use its mineral findings to develop industry and boost its economy, still scarred by the civil war, which ended two decades ago.

Infrastructure

"(Our assistance) is aimed at securing access to the vast mineral resources Mozambique boasts, namely gas and coal, as well as agriculture products," Abe told reporters after meeting Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza.

Abe said the loan showed Japan's willingness to help develop infrastructure and would be invested in the country's northern Nacala corridor region, which includes a deep-water port and a railway that connects to neighbouring Malawi.

Mozambique, which has some of the world's largest untapped coal reserves, is racing to become the first East African nation to export liquefied natural gas after discovering reserves of more than 150 trillion cubic feet off its shores.

Official visit

That would be enough to supply Germany, Britain, France and Italy for 15 years.

Japan's Mitsui is a partner in US-based Anadarko Petroleum's gas project off the coast of Mozambique, from where it plans to ship its first gas cargo in 2018.

There has been a spike in demand for the liquefied natural gas in Japan after all but one of the country's nuclear power plants shut down in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster 2½ years ago.

Abe was on the first official visit to Africa by a Japanese prime minister in eight years. His tour includes a stop in Ivory Coast and Ethiopia.

Follow Fin24 on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.

Japan’s Abe Eyes Mozambique’s Gas Reserves on Africa Visit

By Isabel Reynolds and Mike Cohen  Jan 10, 2014 9:52 AM GMT+0100 

1 Comment Email Print

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• LinkedIn

Save

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may seek to secure natural gas supplies from Mozambique during a three-nation African tour this week, the first visit to the continent by a Japanese leader in almost eight years.

Japan, the world’s biggest importer of liquefied natural gas, has been seeking new energy sources after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The world’s third-largest economy has been without nuclear power, which accounts for about a quarter of its energy needs, since September as all of the country’s 50 reactors have been shut pending safety reviews.

“Since the Fukushima accident, Japan’s imports of natural gas for electricity generation have risen enormously, including from Africa,” Katsumi Hirano, head researcher at the Institute of Developing Economies, an affiliate of the Japan External Trade Organization in Chiba Prefecture, said in a phone interview on Jan 8. “The development of natural gas is an extremely important matter for security and the national interest.”

Mozambique’s offshore fields may hold enough gas to meet global demand for more than two years, according to Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, the national oil company.

The southern African nation, located on the east coast of Africa, plans to build four LNG units with a total capacity of 20 million metric tons a year by 2018, making it the largest LNG export site after Ras Laffan in Qatar. Chiyoda Corp. (6366), based in Yokohama, is among the companies bidding for contracts to construct the plants, which may cost $20 billion.

Coal Mine

Mitsui & Co. has a stake in the fields and Nippon Steel is developing a coal mine in the country, which is slated to start production in 2016.

Japan will also announce more than 60 billion yen ($572 million) in loans to Mozambique, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Jan. 6. The funds will be used to finance infrastructure projects including the construction of a transportation network that connects the country’s Nacala port to Malawi and Zambia, the paper said, without attribution.

Abe will arrive in Mozambique tomorrow after visiting Ivory Coast today, where he is scheduled to meet President Alassane Ouattara and other West African leaders. The Japanese premier will head to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Jan. 13 and will give a speech at the headquarters of the African Union the next day.

Business Delegation

The last visit by a Japanese leader to Africa took place in 2006, when then-Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumi traveled to Ethiopia and Ghana.

Abe is the first Japanese prime minister to take a business delegation to Africa, reflecting a change in emphasis from aid to trade and investment that was the theme of an African summit in Japan in June. The delegation will include trading, natural resources and construction companies.

“Since 2000 onward, China’s engagement with Africa has re-energized everyone else looking at the continent,” Martyn Davies, chief executive officer of Johannesburg-based Frontier Advisory, which provides research on emerging markets, said in a Jan. 8 phone interview. “Undoubtedly the Japanese re-energized engagement should be seen in the context of countering the Chinese to an extent.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net; Mike Cohen in Cape Town at mcohen21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net

Mozambique leads gas boom

Mozambique leads gas boom

Posted DEZ 20 2013 by BLOGGER in ANGOLA, ENERGY, MOZAMBIQUE with Comentários Desligados

Angola has become the third country in sub-Saharan Africa to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), following in the footsteps of Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea. Liquefied gas has already been exported from the Angola LNG plant to China, Japan and Brazil.

Feedstock is to be supplied to the facility from a large number of Angolan blocks and supplies have been received from BP’s Block 18, ExxonMobil’s Block 15 and Total’s Block 17. Angola LNG is owned by Chevron, with a 36.4% stake, state-owned Sonangol (22.8%), BP (13.6%), Eni (13.6%) and Total (13.6%).

However, the facility has been affected by a series of leaks and fires that have hit production. In addition, one person was killed when the drilling rig Perro Negro 6 capsized while laying a pipeline from Chevron fields to the LNG plant. The plant was closed down on 29th September for an expected 53 days of maintenance after just a handful of shipments had been produced. Production will now take longer than expected to be ramped up to full capacity, even when the maintenance work is completed. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to become a more important source of LNG supply over the next decade, as Mozambique and possibly Tanzania join the ranks of the producers. LNG is produced when natural gas is cooled sufficiently to turn it into a liquid that can be transferred on to ships for export around the world. Both liquefaction plants and the regasification plants needed in the importing country cost billions of dollars to construct and so projects are only developed when there is sufficient ring-fenced gas to supply schemes for a minimum of 20 years.

Mozambique will be particularly well placed to supply China and other Asian customers when its LNG project is completed. Consortia led by US firm Anadarko and Eni of Italy will supply gas to a single LNG project in the far north of Mozambique. The final contract on the scheme is expected to be signed by July next year, which the government hopes will be soon enough to enable gas exports from 2018.

Four LNG trains, or production lines, are planned in the first instance, with up to 10 in the longer term, which would provide total annual production capacity of 50m tonnes, making Mozambique one of the world’s biggest LNG producers.There seems little doubt that the venture will proceed, as Anadarko has announced that it is already in talks with 20 different customers and expects to announce sales agreements late this year and in early 2014.

Recent exploration wells have uncovered more gas, including an estimated 5-7 trillion cu ft on Eni’s Agulha Field, on top of the Italian firm’s previous estimate of 80 trillion cu ft on its acreage. Eni chief executive Paolo Scaroni said of Agulha: “It is a completely new play. While it’s not that exciting to find more gas in Mozambique, because so much has been discovered already, it really is exciting to find a new play, in which we can see the potential for wet gas. This might lead to more gas, more condensate and more oil.” Danger of oversupply? Some analysts fear that the global market for LNG could be oversupplied by a combination of a string of new projects in Australia, weak demand in the EU and the shale gas boom in North America. However, China and India are both expected to greatly increase their LNG imports in the near future, while renewed demand is forecast in Japan and South Korea as Tokyo and Seoul seek to reduce their reliance on nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The big impetus, however, could come from new air quality regulations in China. The Airborne Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan 2013-17, which was published in September, requires the government to reduce the proportion of coal in its energy mix to less than 65% by 2017 and to steadily fall thereafter. In terms of its impact on Africa, it could affect the pace of development of the Mozambican coal industry because China now accounts for just over half of global coal demand.

However, it should also increase demand for African LNG. Some of China’s more modern coal-fired plants are to be converted to operate on gas feedstock, while the proportion of gas in the energy mix is expected to increase from 5% in 2011 to 7.5% as soon as 2015.

According to the 12th Five Year Plan on Energy Development 2011–15, the country’s LNG import capacity should exceed 50m tonnes a year by 2015 and could double within another decade, as Beijing seeks to create a diverse range of gas suppliers.

African Business