The French oil and gas company Total has announced that it is suspending resumption of work on building natural gas liquefaction plants in the Afungi Peninsula, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado. Total heads a consortium exploiting the offshore natural gas resources in Area One of the Rovuma Basin. The project, known simply as “Mozambique LNG”, involves foreign investment of over 20 billion US dollars. Total halted construction work and pulled many of its staff out of Afungi following a terrorist attack on 1 January in the resettlement town of Quitunda, a new town built to house people resettled from the areas of the Peninsula where the two planned gas liquefaction plants will be built. Total and the government then drew up a plan of action to strengthen security around the site. The government declared Afungi a special security zone, and set up a 25 […]