The long-delayed Mozambique LNG project has entered a new phase of physical construction, with the Stingray pipeline-laying vessel beginning offshore installation work in Palma Bay, Cabo Delgado.
The vessel is installing five gas pipelines along a 17.7-kilometre corridor, creating the connection between the offshore Area 1 gas development and the LNG facilities being constructed at Afungi onshore. The work represents one of the clearest signs yet that TotalEnergies’ $20 billion project has moved beyond its restart plans and back into active execution.
The installation is part of a larger offshore programme, with a deeper-water campaign expected to follow in the second quarter of 2027. TotalEnergies is targeting first LNG production in 2029.
From Force Majeure to Construction
The significance of the work lies partly in how long it took to get here.
Mozambique LNG was forced to halt activities in April 2021 after escalating insurgent violence around Palma led TotalEnergies to declare force majeure. The suspension placed one of Africa’s largest LNG investments on hold and left a major gap between Mozambique’s enormous gas resources and its ambition to become a major LNG exporter.
That chapter began to close in late 2025, when the consortium lifted force majeure, followed by the full restart of onshore and offshore activities in January 2026. TotalEnergies said more than 4,000 workers were already mobilised at the project when activities restarted, including more than 3,000 Mozambican nationals.
The arrival of the Stingray now gives that restart a physical dimension.
It is one thing for a project operator to announce that construction has resumed. It is another to have specialised vessels laying the infrastructure that will eventually move gas from offshore reservoirs to the liquefaction plant.
The Pipeline Is the Link Between Gas and LNG
The Area 1 development holds approximately 65 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, while Mozambique LNG is designed around two liquefaction trains with combined capacity of about 13.12 million tonnes per year. The project also includes plans to supply gas to Mozambique's domestic market, with up to 400 MMscf/d earmarked for domestic consumption over time.
That makes the pipeline network more than supporting infrastructure.
It is the link between the gas resource offshore and the export plant onshore. Without that connection, the enormous gas reserves discovered in the Rovuma Basin cannot become LNG cargoes, domestic gas supply or government revenue.
The renewed construction also comes as interest in Mozambique's gas sector broadens. Other major developments in the Rovuma Basin are moving forward, potentially creating a much larger LNG ecosystem around Cabo Delgado.
For Mozambique, however, the immediate test is execution.
The country still has to maintain security around Cabo Delgado, keep construction on schedule and ensure that the infrastructure being installed today ultimately connects to a functioning LNG facility tomorrow.
For now, the Stingray's work offers a tangible signal that the project is moving again.
The gas has been underground for years. Now, the infrastructure to move it is finally taking shape.
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