The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has announced that it is considering investing in construction facilities for natural gas exploration and processing in Mozambique, Ecofin Agency reported.

The investment, which will bring to fruition a memorandum between CNPC and the Mozambican state-run  company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) in May, is dependent on completion of the research in an area of ​​the Rovuma basin, informed Macauhub.

CNPC’s International Department’s Director, Wang Hongtao, said: “We are partners with Eni and have a cooperation agreement with ENH, with the president of CNPC in Mozambique for discussions on this partnership and to assess the steps that come after the signing of the memorandum. We cannot move forward without research being completed and we are working with our partner, Eni, to develop the block.”

The CNPC is currently involved in 17 projects in the oil and natural gas sector, including, as well as Mozambique, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia and Algeria with production of over 16.71b tons in 2015.