Mozambique — Africa's Next LNG Superpower With the World's Largest Frontier Gas Discovery
Mozambique's Rovuma Basin is one of the most significant natural gas discoveries of the 21st century — and Africa's most important emerging LNG export hub. The discovery sequence: ENI's Mamba South 1 well (Area 4, October 2011 — 17 TCF recoverable gas — world's largest deepwater discovery in 2011), followed by Anadarko's/TotalEnergies' Prosperidade 1 and Golfinho wells (Area 1, 2012 — 75 TCF total area resource) — established the Rovuma Basin as the world's fourth-largest LNG province after the Middle East (Qatar, Iran), Australia (NW shelf, Browse, Gorgon), and the East Africa corridor (Tanzania's offshore blocks). The total Rovuma Basin gas resources (Mozambique side: 5 trillion m³ proven = 180 TCF, with unproven upside of 250+ TCF) represent 3% of world total natural gas reserves — a resource base equivalent to 15× Mozambique's current GDP. TotalEnergies Mozambique LNG (Area 1 operator since acquiring Anadarko's African assets in 2019 for $8.8B — the world's largest upstream oil and gas acquisition) targets 12 MTPA LNG production from 2 onshore liquefaction trains at Afungi Peninsula, Palma — Africa's largest single LNG investment at $20B. The project was 74% complete when TotalEnergies declared force majeure in April 2021 due to insurgent attacks in Cabo Delgado province. As security stabilizes under Rwandan and SADC military intervention (2021–2024), TotalEnergies is evaluating project restart — creating significant forging procurement demand for the remaining 26% of construction once work resumes.
ENI's Coral South FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas) vessel — built by Samsung Heavy Industries at Geoje, South Korea, delivered to Mozambique's Rovuma Basin in May 2022 and producing its first LNG cargo in June 2022 — is Africa's first FLNG and the world's seventh FLNG vessel. Coral South FLNG (220m long, 66m wide, 220,000 DWT displacement — one of the world's largest offshore structures) processes 150 MMcf/day of raw Rovuma gas from 6 subsea wells on Coral South (Area 4) through: slug catchers, acid gas removal (AGRU — CO2 removal to <50 ppm), dehydration (glycol), mercury removal, and liquefaction (mixed refrigerant MR cycle — propane pre-cooling + MR cooling — identical process to Shell's Pearl GTL but miniaturized for FLNG). The LNG is transferred directly to LNG tankers via ship-to-ship transfer — no onshore LNG terminal required. 100% of Coral FLNG production is contracted to BP under a 20-year LNG sales and purchase agreement at approximately $12–14/MMBtu — one of the highest-value long-term LNG offtake agreements in Africa. The topsides processing train equipment (slug catchers, heat exchangers, compressors, columns) required during the construction phase at Samsung's Geoje shipyard: stainless steel nozzle forgings (A182 F304L, F316L), cryogenic forgings (A350 LF3 for gas processing down to −40°C), and compressor casing forgings (4140 Q+T for the refrigerant compressors). Shivam Forge supplied Samsung SHI's procurement for similar FLNG topsides forgings, establishing our credentials for the next Mozambique LNG FLNG projects.
Sasol's Mozambican gas operations — centered on the Pande and Temane fields in Inhambane province (southern Mozambique) — represent a different and important segment of Mozambique's energy sector: low-sulfur, low-CO2 onshore gas production (compared to Rovuma's offshore high-CO2 gas) through the Temane Central Processing Facility (CPF — 260 MMcf/day current production, expandable to 350 MMcf/day under PSA agreements). The 865 km ROMPCO pipeline (Republic of Mozambique Pipeline Investment Company — Sasol 50%, Companhia Moçambicana de Hidrocarbonetos 25%, IDC South Africa 25%) carries Temane gas to Sasol's Secunda synfuels complex in Mpumalanga, South Africa — the world's only commercial CTL (coal-to-liquids) plant (Secunda uses Lurgi fixed-bed coal gasifiers + Sasol's own Fischer-Tropsch technology to produce 150,000 bbl/day of synfuels from 45 million tonnes/year of Mpumalanga coal). The ROMPCO pipeline valve bodies (API 6D, DN 300–600 Class 600), pipe flanges (A694 F60 for X60 pipe), and compressor station shaft forgings (42CrMo4 Q+T for the 3 compression stations) represent ongoing MRO procurement opportunities for Indian forge shops. Delivery CIF Beira port (Sofala province — 350 km north of Inhambane by road — nearest major port to Temane) in 18–20 days from Mundra.
Shivam Forge's Mozambique strategy: (1) LNG cryogenic expertise — TotalEnergies Mozambique LNG and ENI Coral FLNG require A350 LF3, 9%Ni steel, and A182 F304L cryogenic forgings; our complete cryogenic forging range with NORSOK M-650 QPT documentation satisfies both projects' material requirements; (2) ONGC Videsh connection — OVL's 10% stake in TotalEnergies Area 1 gives Indian forge shops preferred procurement access through OVL's Indian vendor mandate; (3) Super Duplex and nickel alloy capability — Rovuma Basin's deep offshore wells require NACE MR0175-qualified Super Duplex 2507 (PSL4 API 6A) for sour gas wells; (4) Samsung SHI supply chain — Coral South FLNG was built at Samsung SHI Geoje (where we supply marine forgings — CIF Ulsan/Busan 12–16 days), creating an existing supply relationship for future Mozambique FLNG projects (Coral North FLNG planned by ENI, Coral 2 FLNG under development); (5) Mozal aluminium supply — BHP's Mozal smelter (Sub-Saharan Africa's largest) provides forging procurement independent of LNG project status. Contact our Mozambique/Africa team at +91-9265772827.
