As the East African country emerges as an important player in the African gas sector, there will be a strong focus on national content at the Mozambique Gas Summit
Scheduled to be held in Maputo from 30 November until 2 December, there will be a full day dedicated to national content. Delegates will hear from representatives from government and industry on important topics, including new legislation, capacity-building strategies and enhancing the role of SMEs in adding value as the country moves towards gas commerciality.
Partnerships between international and local companies, developing best practices among local companies and boosting the role of local companies will all be on the agenda.
Last year, Mozambique’s government passed a new petroleum law with the requirement that local people are trained and employed, preference be given to local companies and services and local companies and citizens have the opportunity to hold equity stakes in Mozambican oil and gas projects wherever possible. The law also allows the government to create mechanisms to promote local entrepreneurship and guarantees a quota of no less than 25 per cent of Mozambican oil and gas be dedicated to the local market.
The session on building capacity and enhancing knowledge for successful gas projects will also tie in well with the national content focus.
As well as the national content sessions, the conference will cover a wide range of topics with far-reaching implications for the sector as well as neighbouring countries.
LNG will play an important role in the development of Mozambican gas. Delegates will be updated on the latest LNG project developments and project financing for gas and LNG.
With the 25 per cent rule for dedicating local gas to the local market, the theme of the session on Mozambique’s domestic gas scene will be “A Catalyst for Diversification”, as well as a session on the social and environmental impact of gas projects.
Looking beyond Mozambique’s borders, there will also be an outward-looking focus at the summit. There will be a session on regional strategies collaboration in the development of infrastructure of Mozambique and bordering countries. Additionally, there will be discussion and analysis of global gas markets and the impact of this on Mozambican gas projects.
Technology will be on the agenda with the emphasis on the role of new technologies in developing Mozambique’s upstream gas sector.
Leading speakers at the summit include Omar Mitha, chairman of ENH; Carlos Zacarias, President of INP, Estevao Pale, Chairman of CMH, HE Joanna Kuenssberg, British High Commissioner to Mozambique; Martin Hutchison, managing director of International Resources Consulting; Dr Vasco Nhabinde, director of the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Dr Claire Mateus Zimba, director general of the Institute for Promotion of SMEs; and Professor Doutour Francisco Noa, dean of Universidade Lurio.