Mozambique Rovuma Venture intends to study the possibility of launching a second onshore natural gas liquefaction platform in northern Mozambique, according to the director of Galp, who was speaking about the baptism, today, of the first structure of its kind produced in South Korea.

Thore Kristiansen said that the next phase of gas exploration "involves doing onshore liquefaction lines," but this still seems a remote idea due to the terrorist insecurity situation in Cabo Delgado.

"Due to the unsafe situation this has been put on hold and we hope that the situation will stabilize," he said.

Nevertheless, the efforts that will be made will focus on finding alternative ways to guarantee the use of the resources. And only then will it be evaluated "if a second platform like this one can be an alternative.

"At this stage, the focus is on developing the reserves with onshore liquefaction lines, which is the ideal way to build a business with scale," he added.

Kristiansen made these statements today at the Samsung Heavy Industries Co. facility in the port city of Geoje, on South Korea's southern coast, as the leader of the Area 4 South Coral project.

There, the launching of the floating LNG platform took place. From 2022 on, it will start the exploration of the Rovuma basin reserves, considered to be one of the largest gas discoveries in the world.

Harnessing the reserves in the Rovuma basin is also pointed to as a response to climate change, Kristiansen argues.

Because it has "about half the emissions that coal has, gas can be a source with an important role in the transition to a lower carbon society."

The floating platform Coral Sul will depart from the quay in Geoje tomorrow, and will be driven by three tugboats for 60 days through the Indian Ocean until it reaches the anchorage point off Mozambique.

Here in Mozambique the preparations continue, such as the anchoring 50 kilometers off the coast of Cabo Delgado province by means of 20 moorings fixed to the seabed (at a depth of two thousand meters), as well as the connection to the six wells that have already been drilled.

Area 4 is operated by Mozambique Rovuma Venture, a `joint venture' co-owned by ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC (China), which holds a 70% participating interest in the concession contract.

Galp, KOGAS (South Korea) and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (Mozambique) each hold stakes of 10%.