UK withdraws financial support for TotalEnergies Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas Project

On Monday, the British government announced that it had decided to stop UK Export Finance from supporting TotalEnergies' Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas Project.

In 2020, the UKEF had committed to providing financial support for the $20 billion project. The project was supposed to turn Africa into a major LNG exporter for Europe and Asia. However, it was stopped in 2021 because of an islamist insurgency.

In a press release, British business minister Peter Kyle stated that "my officials have evaluated risks surrounding the project and it is His Majesty’s Government's view that these risks have grown since 2020".

This view is based upon a comprehensive evaluation of the project, and the interests UK taxpayers who are best served by terminating our participation in the current project. While these decisions are not easy, the UK government believes that UK funding of this project would not serve the best interests of the country.

TotalEnergies didn't immediately respond to our request for a comment. (Reporting and writing by Sam Tabahriti; America Hernandez, Shadia Naralla; Kirsten Donovan, editor)

(source: Reuters)