Total (TTE.US) plans to restart the Mozambique LNG project and hire Washington lobbyists to seek export financing.

French energy giant TotalEnergies (TTE.US) has hired a government lobbyist from Washington DC to assist in obtaining crucial financing from the US Export-Import Bank to restart the Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. The project has been on hold for years due to security threats, but with global LNG demand increasing significantly since the beginning of the year, TotalEnergies is eager to seize the huge revenue opportunity from exporting LNG. The planned onshore infrastructure - initially estimated to cost $20 billion - would involve liquefying natural gas and exporting it via tankers to monetize the large proven gas reserves in the southern African country. Prior to a terrorist attack by Islamic State-affiliated armed groups near the infrastructure in 2021, the project had attracted the largest project financing in Africa to date. The attack led TotalEnergies to evacuate personnel and suspend development. According to TotalEnergies' calculations, development needs to resume by the end of 2024 in order to start production by the target date of 2029. TotalEnergies confirmed on Wednesday that liquefied natural gas activities in Mozambique remain on hold. The French energy giant has engaged the well-known US government lobbying group "Primus Responsum" to help ensure final approval from the US Export-Import Bank Committee for the financing. According to documents submitted to the US Department of Justice on December 16, the Export-Import Bank agreed in 2020 to contribute $4.7 billion to the Mozambique development project, the largest share of the project's funding. According to the company's activity description in the latest documents submitted, "Primus Responsum" is tasked with identifying key individuals involved in the evaluation process, including personnel within the Export-Import Bank and the Biden administration, and urging them to support the Export-Import Bank Committee's approval by January 20, 2025. TotalEnergies declined to comment on hiring the lobbying group, US financing, or the project timeline. Exim and Primus Responsum did not respond to requests for comment via email. The documents indicate that if the Export-Import Bank Committee approves the project financing before January 20 (the day of Donald Trump's presidential inauguration), Primus Responsum will receive a $250,000 milestone payment. There is currently no information available on whether the Export-Import Bank has approved the financing. TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne stated in October last year that the company is still committed to developing the project, citing some progress in security conditions and waiting for approval from three export-focused credit institutions. Since entering cold weather in December, European natural gas prices have sharply increased due to demand and storage pressures. The recent severe weather in northwestern Europe is expected to further exacerbate pressure on European natural gas storage. The Dutch TTF natural gas futures price surged to its highest level since November 2023 in January. Meanwhile, with Ukraine stopping the transportation of Russian pipeline natural gas to Europe since January 2025, US LNG is accelerating to fill the supply gap in the region. This also adds uncertainty to the supply scale of natural gas in the US domestic market, as well as the entire Asian LNG supply system that relies on US LNG. Some Wall Street analysts suggest that European natural gas prices may continue to rise in early 2025, driven by strong demand in Asian countries during winter, pushing global LNG prices upwards. The escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 led to nearly a complete interruption of Russian pipeline natural gas supply to Europe. With Russia's cheap pipeline natural gas supply now almost terminated, the European continent is increasingly relying on LNG shipments, which require global-scale transport of super-chilled fuel. Despite the continued growth of new LNG supply in 2025, the persistent high demand for LNG in Europe and Asia in recent years is expected to support rising LNG prices. With the push for energy transition and decarbonization policies, natural gas plays a crucial role as a "high-efficiency and clean" transitional energy source.