Mozambique is moving ahead with the Matola Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal project as an alternative to declining gas production from Pande and Temane, which is expected to end in 2030. The project aims to reach financial close by the end of 2027.
Beluluane Gas Company (BGC) today announced the appointment of the VGI/PRDW consortium as Owner’s Engineer for the future terminal, a step expected to consolidate the engineering designs and support the selection of the contractor responsible for building the infrastructure.
According to a company statement, the consortium will “consolidate all engineering designs and provide support” in completing the process of appointing the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor.
BGC says this step will enable the project to reach financial close before the end of 2027, with the initial financing to be provided by Matola Gas Company (MGC) and Gigajoule International (GI).
Beluluane Gas Company is a company registered in Mozambique, established in 2016 by South African company Gigajoule and French multinational TotalEnergies to develop an LNG import project through the port of Matola, on the outskirts of Maputo.
The statement issued today adds that bringing the terminal into operation before supplies from the Pande and Temane gas fields are exhausted is considered crucial to ensuring supplies to the Chókwè, Ressano Garcia and Maputo gas-fired power stations, all in the south of the country, which supply around 450 megawatts to state-owned electricity company Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), as well as to the manufacturing industry in the Matola and Maputo region.
In the statement, the company considers this essential to guaranteeing energy supplies to these facilities and supporting growing industrial activity.
The need for an alternative source of supply is linked to the maturity of the Pande and Temane fields, in Inhambane province, which are operated by South African oil and gas company Sasol under the Petroleum Production Agreement (PPA), signed in 2000.
According to figures presented by Sasol in August, cumulative production from the Pande, Temane and Inhassoro fields reached 3,306.41 petajoules by October 2025, equivalent to 79.48 billion cubic metres of gas.
Of this volume, 3,278.66 petajoules correspond to the PPA concession, which covers the Pande and Temane fields and is now at a mature stage after more than two decades of production.
The gas reserves in these fields were initially estimated at 4.5 trillion cubic feet, of which around 3.1 trillion cubic feet had already been produced by the end of 2025. Sasol expects extraction to end in 2030, although it has indicated that investments could extend operations until 2031. The PPA production licence expires in 2034.
In parallel, Sasol began production in 2025 under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA), associated with the Inhassoro field, also in Inhambane province. The concession is wholly owned by the South African company and has a production licence valid until 2050.
The PSA has estimated resources of 2.5 trillion cubic feet, of which around 1.2 trillion cubic feet are considered recoverable in the form of natural gas, light oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Sasol also supplies gas to South Africa through a pipeline connecting its production facilities in Inhambane to the neighbouring country, while almost all production from the PSA is destined for the Mozambican market.
Regarding the future Matola terminal, BGC says commercial negotiations concerning LNG supplies, construction financing and the sale of gas to South Africa “are in their final stages”, with further announcements expected shortly.
