South African gas and oil company Sacoil Holdings Ltd said this week it has an agreement with a Chinese company and two Mozambican firms for construction of a natural gas pipeline between Mozambique and South Africa.
China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau, a Chinese state-owned firm specialising in engineering such projects; Mozambican state-backed oil and gas company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P; and Mozambican private investor Profin Consulting Sociedade Anónima, are partners in the scheme.
They would build a 2,600-kilometre pipeline to move natural gas from the Rovuma Basin in the north of Mozambique to Gauteng province in South Africa’s northeast. It would mean an investment of no fewer than US$6 billion, Sacoil Holdings said. The pipeline would also be capable of delivering gas to key towns in all provinces of Mozambique, “thereby stimulating industrial growth in the country,” the South African firm said.
“The project will be transformational to Africa’s energy infrastructure landscape, as well as supportive of economic growth across the region,” it added.
China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau was the lead arranger of the project and would be responsible for securing the debt financing – equal to 70 percent of the total project cost – from Chinese financial institutions, the statement noted.
