Mozambique's state oil company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) is in negotiations with investors to develop a $250 million gas pipeline project designed to position the country as a long-term regional energy hub, CEO Rudêncio Morais confirmed to Reuters. ENH is in talks with South Africa's Sasol and pipeline operator ROMPCO to back the initiative, which targets completion by 2030 or 2031.
At the core of the plan is a new 140-kilometre pipeline connecting proposed coastal gas infrastructure to the existing Republic of Mozambique Pipeline Company (ROMPCO) network, which currently carries natural gas from Sasol's onshore Pande and Temane fields to South Africa's Secunda industrial complex. Those onshore reserves are expected to be depleted within a few years, creating an urgent supply gap that the new infrastructure is designed to fill. The project also includes floating storage and regasification units at Inhassoro and the Port of Beira, providing the import and storage backbone needed to handle offshore gas volumes.
The scheme is engineered to unlock gas from the northern Rovuma Basin, where TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, and Eni are advancing multibillion-dollar LNG ventures — Mozambique LNG, Rovuma LNG, and Coral Norte respectively. While the bulk of Rovuma gas is contracted for global export, petroleum legislation enacted in June now mandates that at least 25% of domestic oil and gas output be reserved for local and regional markets. The new pipeline link would allow that mandated domestic share to flow south to South African industrial consumers. ENH itself belongs to a state-owned consortium that was awarded an exclusive 30-year concession last year to construct and manage national gas infrastructure.
The project timeline aligns closely with the expected start-up windows for the major Rovuma Basin projects. Eni's Coral Sul floating LNG facility has been operational off the Palma district since 2022, providing a proof-of-concept for offshore gas monetisation in Mozambican waters. Its sister project, Coral Norte, is reported to be 70% complete and targeting 2028 production, reinforcing the supply trajectory that ENH's pipeline plan is built around.
At this stage, the initiative remains at negotiation and heads-of-agreement level — no construction contract has been signed. The 2030-2031 completion target gives the project a development window of roughly five to six years, with financing and commercial terms still to be finalised with Sasol, ROMPCO, and other potential investors. If concluded, the project would create a material new piece of gas transport and regasification infrastructure connecting Mozambique's offshore wealth to southern African industrial demand, and would require procurement across pipeline construction, FSRU supply and installation, and associated subsea and onshore tie-in works.
