The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has signed on a loan agreement in project financing amounting up to USD3 billion with MOZ LNG1 FINANCING COMPANY LTD in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The loan is extended under JBIC’s Growth Investment Facility. It is co-financed with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Export-Import Bank of the United States, UK Export Finance, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand as well as 21 private financial institutions, bringing the total co-financing amount to USD14.4 billion. Part of the co-financing loans provided by private financial institutions is insured or guaranteed by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), UKEF, SACE S.p.A. (SACE) of Italy, the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa Soc Ltd (ECIC), as well as Atradius Dutch State Business N.V.
  

For this project, Mitsui & Co., Ltd., and the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), jointly with Total S.A. of France, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P. of Mozambique and others, will develop the Golfinho/Atum gas field in the northernmost part of Mozambique; transport feed gas through subsea gas pipeline to the onshore liquefaction plant to be constructed; and produce and sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) with an annual production capacity of 13.12 million tons. The loan is intended to finance mainly the development of the gas field and production of LNG in the project.
  

Natural gas produces less greenhouse gases than other fossil fuels and mitigates environmental impacts. Global demand for LNG is projected to grow in the future, driven by increasing demand in developing countries and rising environmental awareness. In the Strategic Energy Plan released in July 2018, the Japanese government recognized that one of its most crucial policy agendas is to secure the stable supply of natural gas to Japan. Japanese utility companies are expected to offtake approximately 30% of the LNG produced by this project, and this will represent Japan’s first import of LNG produced in Mozambique. As such JBIC’s support for this project will contribute to securing stable supplies of LNG and to diversifying LNG supply sources for Japan.
  

Also, under the LNG sales and purchase agreements for this project, flexible destinations clauses  have been introduced and a joint procurement framework  has been adopted between Japanese and foreign off-takers. In the Strategy for LNG Market Development published by the Japanese government in May 2016, such flexibility in LNG sales and purchases agreements is one of the main themes earmarked for active support. JBIC, through its provision of this loan, will contribute to the optimization of LNG procurement by Japanese utility companies by supporting the formation of a more flexible LNG market.

Mozambique Rovuma LNG is the country’s first onshore LNG development. Total is the operator with a 26.5 percent participating interest alongside ENH Rovuma Área Um, S.A. (15 percent), Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area1 (20 percent), ONGC Videsh (10 percent), Beas Rovuma Energy Mozambique (10 percent), BPRL Ventures Mozambique (10 percent), and PTTEP Mozambique Area 1 (8.5 percent).