The Head of Oil and Gas Sector Solutions at Rand Merchant Bank in London believes that the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has put the African continent in desperate need to buy gas from countries like Mozambique.

"The world, and Europe in particular, desperately needs countries like Mozambique to fill the supply gap left by Russian oil and gas" said Jonathan Ross, quoted in a statement published by a portal.

In the publication, the transformational potential of Mozambican gas is considered to have been rekindled, although some fear of investing in Rovuma gas was noted due to price declines that took place following international efforts for energy transition.

"But now the energy landscape has been irrevocably changed: Europe has committed to replace 155 bcm/pa [billion cubic meters per year] of gas it imports from Russia-that's about seven times the capacity of Mozambique's current sanctioned LNG projects. And with LNG prices in some markets up about eight to nine times last year, the potential savings from these projects and the fiscal benefits to Mozambique are enormous," Ross said.

In his opinion, a bet on Mozambique's gas will help in the country's economic development and in the supply of safe energy for industries, but also to relieve the international market of the product's shortage.

Jonathan Ross noted that Mozambique is listed as having one of the world's largest gas reserves, whose production potential could reach 16 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas by 2026 "if the [TotalEnergies and Eni] projects are resumed."

"Mozambique still has the potential to be a major player in the global gas industry and resume its natural gas liquefaction projects," Ross said.

Mozambique gas has broad applications and can be used in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors for purposes such as power, heating, cooking, electricity generation and manufacturing of a wide variety of products.

Quoted in the document, Ducla dos Santos hopes that by next March the resumption of the TotalEnergies project, valued at 20 billion dollars, suspended for about 18 months due to terrorist insurgency in Cabo Delgado province, will be confirmed.

"Other companies like ExxonMobil Corp, an onshore company adjacent to the TotalEnergies SE project, is also considering a return to operations," Ducla said, stressing that the government needs to ensure security in the region.