The multinational TotalEnergies has imposed conditions to return to business in Cabo Delgado, after having abandoned the site in April 2021, due to attacks by insurgents, some media recently reported.

Political analysts admit that the company was expected to set conditions for the resumption of its gas project in Cabo Delgado, namely the creation of an exclusive protection force, but warn that incorporating the budget for this force into the recoverable costs of the company's investment will reduce revenues, diminishing the benefits for the communities.

The Center for Public Integrity (CIP) had already warned of the possibility of oil companies trying to renegotiate their projects in Cabo Delgado, due to insecurity, and researcher Gift Essinalo says that this is a very sensitive issue, because Mozambicans expect Total to return to Palma, "due to projections that the government has made, regarding revenues that could result from its gas project".

Quoted by VOA, Essinalo says he doesn't understand why the budget for this force should be included in the company's recoverable costs because it will be made up of military units that already operate in Cabo Delgado.

Meanwhile, researcher João Feijó says he doubts that Total will restart now in March, because there are indicators required by the company that are not yet guaranteed, namely safety issues.

For him, the fact that Total wants to incorporate the exclusive force budget into the company's recoverable costs, "seems realistic to me, Total is trying to take advantage of the negotiation process with the government, since companies in the extractive industry are used to operating in contexts of great insecurity".

For his part, economist João Mosca says that Total wants to create an exclusive protection force because it has no confidence in the Mozambican army and the international forces that are in Cabo Delgado.

Mosca said that with the possible incorporation of the budget for this force into Total's recoverable costs, the planned Sovereign Fund will have very limited resources, and he doesn't know if such a fund will ever be set up.

"We've been talking about this for more than seven years, and there's been no result," he concluded.

The president of TotalEnergies is expected to visit Mozambique soon, according to some media.