Mozambique Ready to Meet India's LNG Needs

Mozambique is ready to satisfy India's natural gas needs, country’s Minister of Mineral Resources Esperanca Bias told Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) on the sideline of an industry summit in New Delhi.

"If the Indian government, or anybody, wants to buy LNG from Mozambique, we are ready to meet the demand," the minister told IANS in an interview.

The East Africa nation has seen numerous natural gas discoveries in recent years, mainly offshore.  

"I think the natural gas project will boost our relationship further. The Rovuma basin is expected to start production from 2018 and we will make sure that India will start getting LNG by 2019," Bias said.

Mozambique plans to produce 34 million tonnes of LNG from its biggest gas field - the Rovuma Area 1 offshore block. 

India's petroleum ministry has indicated to the Mozambican delegation an initial assessment of requiring 15-20 million tonnes of LNG, according to IANS.

She underlined the cooperative nature of the relationship, pointing out how India will train Mozambican personnel in the hydrocarbon sector.

"The Indian petroleum ministry will offer Mozambique more than a hundred scholarships for training people in our hydrocarbons sector because we are quite new in the field," Bias said.

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