The state-run China National Offshore Oil Co (CNOOC) is set to begin hydrocarbon exploration next month, drilling blocks first awarded in 2022, reports news outlet Club of Mozambique.
“They will start very soon. In March, they will begin preparations to commence exploration,” Mozambique’s energy minister Estêvão Pale told reporters at the 2025 Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town. “At this moment, we are in the initial phase, with five to six more blocks,” he added.
CNOOC Hong Kong and the National Hydrocarbons Company (known by the Portuguese initials ENH) won contracts for five offshore blocks in the Save (S6-A and S6-B) and Angoche (A6-D, A6-G and A6-E) areas following the sixth licensing round for gas and oil exploration, which launched in November 2021.
The round covered 16 blocks across four areas: Angoche (7), Save (2), the Zambezi Delta (2), and the Rovuma Basin (5), totalling over 92,000 square kilometres.
Pale told the Portuguese news agency Lusa that Mozambique has no plans “at the moment” to launch a new licensing round, believing “there are still many areas available for direct negotiations that were part of the last licensing round and were not developed.” He added: “We now have the opportunity to continue discussions and see whether we can find another potential partner.”
[See more: TotalEnergies has restarted its massive Mozambican LNG project]
Mozambique has three approved development projects in the Rovuma Basin, which boasts some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world, though only one is currently in operation.
Italian energy giant Eni’s Coral Sul floating liquified natural gas (FLNG) platform has been active since 2022 and last October, the company approved a second platform, Coral Norte. With an investment of US$7.2 billion, Coral Norte is expected to double production to 7 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from 2028.
TotalEnergies’ US$20 billion Mozambique LNG project and ExxonMobil’s US$30 billion Rovuma LNG project stalled in 2021, after insurgent attacks forced the companies to abandon construction of shared onshore facilities.
An improved security situation in the province led both companies to lift their respective forces majeures last year. TotalEnergies officially resumed activities in January with Mozambique LNG is expected to produce up to 13 mtpa from 2029.
Work on Rovuma LNG is expected to begin in 12 to 18 months, with 18 mtpa planned after 2030. Exxon plans to make a final investment decision on the project this year.
