Rovuma gas is expected to account for 0.3% of the Mozambican state's total revenue in 2023, the first full year of production from the Coral Sul platform, according to the proposed State Budget (OE) for 2023.

"Of the amount forecast for state revenue, 1.25 billion meticais comes from natural gas from Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin," reads the document to be discussed in parliament and published on Tuesday on the website of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

"The figure comes from the medium-term fiscal scenario," a ministry source told Lusa.

Gas from the Rovuma, off the coast of Cabo Delgado (a province affected by an armed insurgency and humanitarian crisis), accounts for 0.3% of the total revenue collected, which is expected to reach 357 billion meticais (5.7 billion euros) by 2023.

In addition to the State Budget, gas revenues (along with others from the extractive sector) should help create a sovereign wealth fund later this year, to which 40% will be channeled, according to the draft law.

General revenues from Rovuma gas are expected to grow as the exploitation of reserves progresses.

The Coral Sul floating platform, anchored off Cabo Delgado, has been extracting gas for the on-board liquefaction plant since the middle of the year.

The first export cargo ship is already in Cabo Delgado and will connect to the factory to be filled up in the next few days.

The platform led by Italian oil company Eni will produce 3.4 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year for BP (which has bought the production for 20 years).

There are two other larger projects for the Rovuma basin, led by TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil/Eni, which could produce four to five times more each.

However, these other projects include onshore liquefaction plants on the Afungi peninsula and are awaiting decisions from the oil companies before construction can go ahead, given the insecurity in the region.

In the forecasts made in 2020, with the three projects up and running, Mozambique expected to receive 96 billion dollars over the lifetime of the Rovuma gas, almost five times the country's annual gross domestic product (GDP).

In the meantime, armed violence in Cabo Delgado has led to a halt in onshore investments and only the Coral Sul platform is up and running.

The revenues from the Rovuma gas were part of the renegotiation accepted in 2019 by the holders of Mozambican Eurobonds (sovereign debt of around 726 million dollars that originated with the public company Ematum), which made it possible to postpone its maturity from 2023 to 2031, as well as to reschedule the remuneration.