Japan’s Mitsui & Co announced that a final investment decision (FID) regarding the US Anadarko-led offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique is delayed for four months, Reuters reported.

Mitsui’s Executive Managing Officer and CEO, Hirotatsu Fujiwara, stated to Reuters on the sidelines of a gas conference in Chiba, Japan, that the company previously expected to end its talks with the government of Mozambique in December 2017. However, the FID is now expected to be achieved by April/June 2018.

The company’s CEO added that the two natural gas processing plants with a capacity of 12m tons/y should become operational in 2022/2023, after a construction period of four years, Macauhub informed.

“The partners in the block – covering the operator Anadarko group, Mitsui & Co Group, Indian company ONGC Videsh, Bharat PetroResources Ltd, Oil India Ltd, and Thai PTT Exploration & Production Plc – have been negotiating with Japanese companies in the gas sector to finalize binding long-term gas sale contracts,” he explained.

Fujiwara further noted that “the project has secured more than 8m tons/y of non-binding long-term commitments. It needs to secure binding commitments to account for about 80% of the total 12m tons/y capacity to get the necessary funding for a FID.”