Overview
- ExxonMobil Moçambique issued letters of intent to the SMDC joint venture on Friday, authorizing limited engineering and procurement services to advance Rovuma LNG Phase 1 toward a planned 2026 final investment decision.
- The LOIs cover inside‑battery‑limits (ISBL) work, with McDermott executing ISBL engineering from its London and Gurgaon offices and project management seconded to the JV team in Milan.
- The SMDC consortium comprises McDermott (majority), Saipem, Daewoo E&C and CPECC, and Daewoo has confirmed it received an LOI as a prime contractor within the JV.
- Phase 1 remains scoped as an onshore modular liquefaction hub of 12 modules producing 18.6 Mtpa with a headline capital estimate near $30 billion, though those figures will be refined before FID.
- MRV’s Area 4 holds about 85 trillion cubic feet of gas and studies project large fiscal and jobs benefits for Mozambique over decades, but final contracts, financing and execution risks will determine timing, cost and local impacts.