Mozambique plans to install a new platform to monitor the export of natural gas from the Pande/Temane fields in Inhambane, in order to monitor online the sales of this resource, mainly to South Africa..

According to the chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Petroleum Institute, Nazário Bangalane, monitoring is currently carried out through regular audits and checks on measuring equipment.

Quoted by NewsBangalane, who visited the gas processing center a few days ago as part of the control of the Production Sharing Contract approved by the government over the oil exploration of the South African petrochemical company Sasol, in Pande/Temane, explained that this intention to "strengthen the control mechanisms is justified by the fact that this industry is dynamic".

"We thought it best to come and supervise and monitor the activities on the ground. Obviously, our technical teams do this work on a daily basis. We are here to witness what we see in the reports we receive," said Bangalane, assuring that operations are running normally.

Official figures show that Sasol has already exported 2,695 million gigajoules of gas out of a total of 3,047 million extracted over the last 25 years, destined for South Africa, as well as supplying power stations in the provinces of Gaza and Maputo, in southern Mozambique.

Of the total gas produced, 352 million gigajoules were consumed on the domestic market as a commercial product and also as "royalties in kind".

For the Mozambican government, the start of gas exploration in Pande/Temane was one of the country's major achievements in its efforts to harness its energy potential, laying the foundations for the development of the oil sector, which culminated in the discovery of reserves in the Rovuma basin, estimated at 180 trillion cubic feet.

Mozambique has three projects approved for the exploration of natural gas from the Rovuma basin, classified among the largest in the world, off the coast of Cabo Delgado.

(Photo DR)