据路透社伦敦报道，周二，美国能源公司阿纳达科石油公司批准在莫桑比克建造一个价值200亿美元的天然气液化和出口终端，这是在非洲批准的最大的单一的LNG项目。

这一声明发布在莫桑比克的一次活动上，在阿纳达科上个月宣布了决定日期之后，人们普遍期待。

首席执行长Al Walker在一份声明中说：“随着世界越来越多寻求更清洁的能源，由阿纳达科主导的莫桑比克1号区液化天然气项目是满足不断增长的需求的理想地点，尤其是在不断扩大的亚洲和欧洲市场方面。

阿纳达科已经同意被西方石油公司接管，一旦这笔交易继续进行，西方石油公司已经同意将包括莫桑比克液化天然气项目在内的资产出售给法国石油巨头和大型液化天然气贸易商道达尔。

随着各国寻求满足不断增长的能源需求，并使其工业和电力部门不再依赖煤炭，天然气的使用在世界各地迅速增长。

该项目已承诺向世界各地的公用事业、主要液化天然气投资组合持有人和国有企业提供长期供应，这突显出该行业的信心，尽管今年液化天然气价格暴跌，但未来数年液化天然气需求仍将飙升。

对于运输超冷天然气来说，低价导致人们担心像阿纳达科这样的最终投资决定会被推迟或取消，不过阿纳达科聚集了足够多的长期买家来支撑该项目的融资。

伍德麦肯齐液化天然气咨询公司主管Frank Harris表示：“灵活的商业安排，包括与东京天然气和英国能源巨头森特理克集团的创新性共同采购协议，确保该项目在拥挤的液化天然气市场上拥有高质量客户方面发挥了重要作用。”

由于美国、澳大利亚和俄罗斯的新终端供应大幅增加，但亚洲的需求并未有所增加，导致今年液化天然气价格大幅下跌。

而天然气贸易也远没有原油市场发达，导致其价格波动。

伍德麦肯齐旗下撒哈拉以南非洲上游团队的分析师Jon Lawrence补充称：“目前的最终投资决定为200亿美元，这是撒哈拉以南非洲地区在石油和天然气领域有史以来最大的项目。”

预计该项目对莫桑比克来说也是一个变革，莫桑比克是世界上最贫穷的国家之一，饱受经济危机、内战引发的冲突以及严重治理混乱的困扰，其每年的国内生产总值仅为130亿美元。

莫桑比克政府表示，该项目预计将创造5000多个直接就业机会和45000个间接就业机会。

莫桑比克液化天然气项目的年生产能力为1288万吨，是有史以来最大的新建的液化天然气设施之一，它包括建设基础设施，从莫桑比克北部近海油田开采天然气，将其输送到岸上并液化，以备液化天然气油轮进一步出口。

在非洲东海岸，该项目将能够将液化天然气出售给利润丰厚的亚洲市场（全球液化天然气需求的75%来自亚洲）和灵活的欧洲市场（欧洲市场通过吸收过剩的供应帮助平衡全球液化天然气贸易）。

莫桑比克液化天然气还加入了过去一年批准的其他大型项目，如埃克森美孚年产能为1600万吨的美国Golden Pass工厂以及荷兰皇家壳牌公司年产能为1400万吨的LNG加拿大工厂。

预计今年埃克森美孚公司还将批准在莫桑比克年产能为1520万吨的液化天然气项目以及俄罗斯诺瓦泰克年产能为1980万吨的北极LNG-2工厂。

?詹晓晶摘自路透社

原文如下：

Anadarko approves $20 billion LNG export project in Mozambique

U.S. energy firm Anadarko Petroleum Corp on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the construction of a $20 billion gas liquefaction and export terminal in Mozambique, the largest single LNG project approved in Africa.

The announcement, which occurred at an event in Mozambique, was widely expected after Anadarko last month flagged the decision date.

"As the world increasingly seeks cleaner forms of energy, the Anadarko-led Area 1 Mozambique LNG project is ideally located to meet growing demand, particularly in expanding Asian and European markets," Chief Executive Officer Al Walker said in a statement here.

Anadarko has agreed to be taken over by Occidental Petroleum Corp. Once that deal goes ahead, Occidental has agreed to sell assets including the Mozambique LNG project to French oil major and large LNG trader Total SA.

Natural gas use is growing rapidly around the world as countries seek to meet rising energy demand and wean their industrial and power sectors off dirtier coal.

The project, which has committed long-term supplies to utilities, major LNG portfolio holders and state companies around the world, underscores the industry’s conviction that LNG demand will soar in years to come despite a slump in prices this year.

Low prices for the gas that is super-cooled for transportation prompted fears final investment decisions (FIDs) such as Anadarko’s would be delayed or scrapped. But the U.S. company gathered enough long-term buyers to underpin the financing of the project.

“Flexible commercial arrangements, including an innovative co-purchase agreement with Tokyo Gas and Centrica, have been instrumental in securing the project a roster of high-quality customers in a crowded LNG market,” said Frank Harris, head of LNG Consulting at Wood Mackenzie.

LNG prices slumped this year as a jump in supply from new terminals in the United States, Australia and Russia were not totally met by higher demand in Asia.

The trade is also nowhere near as developed as the market for crude oil, causing erratic price movements.

“At $20 billion, today’s FID is the largest sanction ever in sub-Saharan Africa oil and gas,” added Jon Lawrence, an analyst with Wood Mackenzie’s sub-Saharan Africa upstream team.

The project is also expected to be transformational for Mozambique, one of the poorest nations on earth beset by economic crisis, conflict stemming from a civil war and serious governance malaise, whose annual gross domestic product is just $13 billion.

The government of Mozambique said the project is expected to create more than 5,000 direct jobs and 45,000 indirect jobs.

With a 12.88 million tonne per year (mtpa) capacity, Mozambique LNG is one of the largest greenfield LNG facilities to have ever been approved. It involves building infrastructure to extract gas from a field offshore northern Mozambique, pump it onshore and liquefy it, ready for further export by LNG tankers.

On the African east coast, the liquefaction plant will be able to sell LNG to both the lucrative Asian market, home to 75%of global LNG demand, and to the flexible European market, which helps balance global LNG trade by soaking up excess supply.

Mozambique LNG joins other mega-projects approved in the past year such as Exxon Mobil Corp’s 16 mtpa U.S. Golden Pass plant and Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 14 mtpa LNG Canada facility.

Still expected this year are approvals from Exxon for a 15.2 mtpa project also in Mozambique, and from Russia’s Novatek for its 19.8 mtpa Arctic LNG-2 plant.

Anadarko’s partners in the Mozambique LNG project are Mitsui, Mozambique state energy company ENH, Thailand’s PTT and Indian energy firms ONGC, Bharat Petroleum Resources and Oil India.