GAS Africa’s oil and gas boom – opportunity or resource trap? Natural resources in Africa have often been bad for the general populations of the countries where these occur. Many are relieved that resource booms in countries like Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and elsewhere did not happen in the 1960s. D irector of the Centro de Itegridade Publica (Centre of Public Integrity) Mocambique, Adriano Nuvunga, describes Mozambique’s natural resource boom as a boom in slow motion, having started in 2005 with natural gas exports to South Africa, the award of the Moatize coal concession to Vale and the completion of the 2005 licensing round for the Rovuma basin. Nearly a decade later the impacts for Mozambique have been modest. The Pande-Temane gas export capacity has increased and Mozambique is the 7 th largest exporter of natural gas in Africa, but cumulative payments to the country’s ministry of finance are less than US$200 million. However, world- class reserves of natural gas have been found offshore in deep water close to the Tanzanian border, in concessions led by 120 Director of the Centro de Itegridade Publica Mocambique, Adriano Nuvunga. US group Anadarko and Italian group ENI. “Of course no one wanted to find gas; they were looking for oil,” Nuvunga says. “But the search for oil has been unsuccessful. Statoil held a concession to the south of the major gas finds, but has given up on its Mozambique exploration because drilling found no oil.” How much gas is there in these new finds? Thus far there is no third party certification, so reserve statistics are only company estimates. Reports place Mozambique in the top 20 countries globally in terms of gas reserves, maybe even the top 15. At this stage the question is not about the volume of the gas, but about getting it to market. No significant domestic markets exist and the remote location makes a pipeline questionable, though not out of the question. However, the only option being mooted is for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Strong demand for LNG in Asia makes this a viable option. Anadarko ESI AFRICA ISSUE 1 2014