US EXIM bank amends Mozambique LNG loan

The Export-Import Bank of the United States said Thursday it has amended its previously approved loan for the Total-led $20 billion Mozambique liquefied natural gas export project.

The bank approved a loan for up to $5 billion in September last year to support the export of U.S. goods and services related to the development and construction of an LNG export plant on the Afungi Peninsula in northern Mozambique.

However, the original scope of EXIM’s financing of the project was only covering the onshore part of the project.

With this amendment, the bank has also included the offshore scope of the project related to the development of the Golfinho/Atum gas fields which will feed the LNG plant.

EXIM said in a statement it will allocate an estimated $1.8 billion of the total loan of $4.7 billion, which is down from the original $5 billion, to support the project’s offshore production.

As a result, the transaction now will support an increased number or about 16,700 of estimated American jobs over the five-year construction period, according to the bank.

The number of U.S. suppliers also has increased to 68, with 31 suppliers added to the 37 companies previously identified, the bank said.

Mozambique LNG was sanctioned in June 2019 by Anadarko and its co-venturers in Area 1.

Total acquired Anadarko’s 26.5 percent interest in the LNG project in September last year for $3.9 billion.

The project will initially consist of two LNG trains in Cabo Delgado with a capacity of 12.88 million tonnes per year to support the development of the Golfinho/Atum fields.

Area 1 contains more than 60 trillion cubic feet of gas resources, of which 18 Tcf will be developed with the first two trains.

Total said previously that it expected production to begin by 2024.