Testing starts on gas platform in northern Mozambique

Italian oil company Eni is starting its first water test of a floating platform that will produce liquefied natural gas in northern Mozambique on Tuesday.

Natural gas production in the Rovuma Basin is expected to start in 2022 and the project is expected to produce 3.4 million tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas per year.

The offshore discovery of one of the largest natural gas fields in Africa in 2010 triggered dreams of wealth.

It's one of three projects which are poised to turn Mozambique into a major gas supplier, reports Africa Oil Week.

Engineering company Fircroft goes as far as to ask whether Mozambique is the world's next energy superpower.

But there will be no serious government revenue until 2028 or later, reports editor of Mozambique Political Process Bulletin Joseph Hanlon.

He adds that, as is common with mega-projects of this kind, few local opportunities have materialised.

Youth unemployment therefore remains very high, as in the rest of Mozambique. 

This article originally appeared on BBC News 

Photo credit: Eni