Mozambican gas stakes catch eye

Sasol might be interested in buying into the gas blocks offered for sale in Mozambique’s lucrative Rovuma basin if the deals were “appropriate”, its chief executive said yesterday.

Recent discoveries have put Mozambique in line to eventually compete as a major provider of liquefied natural gas to Asia.

Anadarko Petroleum and an Indian billionaire plan to auction a 20 percent stake in their Mozambican field, while China National Petroleum is in talks to buy a stake in the block operated by Italy’s Eni.

“We are interested in looking at what we might do with some of the owners of the Rovuma basin blocks, what their needs are and how we might be able to help them monetise the gas with our technologies,” Sasol chief executive David Constable said. “We would certainly be interested in taking a look at it.”

Sasol is the top maker of motor fuels from coal, but has also been investing in plants that convert gas to fuel and chemicals. The company would like to use that expertise when partnering with future gas producers in Mozambique.

Constable said he had met with Mozambique’s president to discuss possibilities for Sasol, which has been operating in the country since 2004, to develop domestic gas-based industries.

The company is conducting engineering studies for a 96 000 barrels-a-day gas-to-liquids (GTL) and chemicals facility in the US as well as an integrated ethane cracker complex, while a GTL project in Canada has been put on hold. – Reuters