Coral Sul FLNG will, in the coming years, be the only natural gas project to produce in northern Mozambique. Despite important revenues for the State, they will be insufficient to cover the high charges resulting from the payment of the country's external debt, inflated by more than USD 2,000 million in credit resulting from the so-called "hidden debts", involving companies created for the purpose (EMATUM, MAM, and Proindicus). The restructuring of EMATUM's debt securities in 2016 was based on the assumption that repayments would be made in full in 2023, supported by natural gas revenues.

Currently, only Coral Sul FLNG has the potential to produce up to that point, with annual revenues of less than USD 100 million/year in the first nine years of operation. The failure of government forecasts, in part due to the insecurity situation in Cabo Delgado and international economic conditions, led the government to propose the issuance of a new Eurobond to pay interest on loans, starting to repay creditors only in 2029 and promising lenders the equivalent of 5% of LNG revenues by 2033 and up to a maximum of USD 500 million. The suspension of the Mozambique LNG project, led by Total, compromised that solution, eventually being discarded, as the gas produced in the next few years - USD 760 million in government revenue until 2030 - will only be a part of what is needed to repay the loans. READ MORE