Maputo's new partner

An American oil giant will take the lead in the Rovuma

It seems Mozambique's offshore gas business will get a new master in 2018: ExxonMobil. The US supermajor has already agreed terms—both with the vendor, Eni, and the Mozambican authorities—to take a joint operator stake in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, and the deal should close before the end of 2017. It's likely, too, that Exxon will live up to the rumours and take the operator stake in Anadarko's adjacent Area 1. Eni reached a final investment decision (FID) on a floating liquefied natural gas plant for Area 4's Coral South field last June, just after announcing Exxon's involvement. The terms of the deal leave Eni as upstream operator for the whole area, and in charge of Coral South FLNG, whi