The Mozambican Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy on Monday said that the approval for development of the project to extract and liquefy natural gas in Mozambique submitted by Eni will create 820 jobs.

The plan, which was recently sanctioned by the government of Mozambique will be effected in 2016 by Eni East Africa. The project is to be situated in Area 4 of the Rovuma basin and first allow for extraction of 4.7 bcf of natural gas and production of 3.37 bcf of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

According to a source from the ministry, 90 % of the 820 jobs will be occupied by Mozambican workers who will go through training.

The find, made in May 2012, attested to the presence of 16 tcf of high quality natural gas at a depth of more than 2,000 metres and at a distance of 80 km from Palma Bay, in the province of Cabo Delgado.

Eni is the operator of the Area 4 block with a 50% interest through its subsidiary ENI East Africa, which controls 70 % of the block. Other partners include Galp Energia, Kogas and Mozambique’s state oil and gas company ENH with 10% each while China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has a 20 % stake, Macauhub reports.

Anita Fatunji