Bloomberg: Mozambique Gas Bonanza Hinges on State Finishing LNG Laws

More than half a dozen yellow tower cranes planted in the hillside above Mozambique’s capital are visible from a single vantage point at Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC)’s office. There are more poised along the beachfront in the other direction.

“That’s anticipation,” said John Peffer, country manager for The Woodlands, Texas-based oil and gas explorer.

Peffer’s referring to the prospect of developing the world’s largest natural-gas discovery in a decade off Mozambique’s northern coast. It’s a resource that may help the economy in one of Africa’s poorest countries grow 10-fold by 2035, according a Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK) report.

The trouble is Anadarko and Italian explorer Eni SpA (ENI), which have found gas in a neighboring block, can’t start development until the government completes legislation setting the terms for exports. If the law isn’t signed this year, it may be delayed further by shifts in the political landscape after presidential and parliamentary elections today.

“A good decree law provides investors, financiers and LNG buyers with an improved risk profile,” said Peffer. This may “benefit Mozambique significantly as it competes globally for high-value markets against established suppliers,” he said. MORE