Cabo Delgado, Mozambique: A Resource-Rich War Zone
Location:
Cabo Delgado, MozambiqueProject risks:
Conflict/Violence, Environmental Destruction, Social Harm, LitigationCompanies:
- Eni SpA
- TotalEnergies SE
- Exxon Mobil Corporation
- Mitsui & Co Ltd
- Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos EP (ENH)
- Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC)
- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC)
- Oil India Ltd
- Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd
- PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Ltd (PTTEP)
- Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)
- Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS)
- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)
- Rovuma LNG SA
- Moz LNG1 Holding Company Ltd
- Bharat PetroResources Ltd (BPRL)
- PTT Public Company Ltd
Approximate location. By zooming in, you can recognize the construction site of TotalEnergies' Mozambique LNG.
Introduction
External forces are tearing the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado and its people apart. In a country that was already rife with conflict, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil, Eni and their partners have come in to develop some of the biggest gas projects on the African continent. People living in the region see little or nothing of the oil and gas money.
Note: Reputational risk projects on GOGEL are updated annually. This article was last updated in May 2026.
Spotlight: Project backlash
In March 2026, UN human rights experts from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) levied significant criticism of the human rights situation surrounding the gas projects in Mozambique and expressed concern over funding for Eni and ExxonMobil’s Coral North project.25249
Shortly before TotalEnergies' Mozambique LNG project resumed in January 2026, the British and Dutch export credit agencies withdrew their export credit guarantees and their participation in approximately $2.2 billion in loans for the project due to human rights and security concerns.25250
In November 2024, hundreds of members from local communities staged protests against TotalEnergies’ project, tired of waiting for compensation payments or resettlement. Many had been unable to engage in subsistence farming for over a year, leaving families in extremely precarious situations.25259
In 2025, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) filed a criminal complaint in France against TotalEnergies for complicity in war crimes, torture, and enforced disappearance.25251 This case focuses on TotalEnergies’ direct financial and material support for the so-called Joint Task Force (JTF) – consisting of Mozambican armed forces deployed to protect the gas production facility.252522525325254 There are allegations that in 2021, the JTF allegedly arrested, tortured, and killed dozens of civilians near the entrance to the gas facilities. TotalEnergies has strongly rejected the allegations regarding the incidents as well as any claim that the company had, or could have had, any knowledge of the acts of violence, and has published its correspondence on the matter.2525525256
In 2024, France’s state prosecutor opened an investigation into TotalEnergies for potential involuntary manslaughter and failure to assist people in danger.25257 This followed a criminal complaint made in October 2023 by families of victims and survivors of the 2021 insurgent attack on Palma town, accusing TotalEnergies of having failed to ensure their safety as subcontractors. TotalEnergies categorically rejects these accusations and details the emergency assistance provided by the Mozambique LNG teams and the resources they mobilized to evacuate people.25258
Background
Before the gas majors came, Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province was a tourist hotspot.[1] The province lies in the North of the country, close to the border of Tanzania.[2] In the east, it borders the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean.[3] The Quirimbas National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, lies along the coast, onshore and off the shore.[4] Its ocean is home to sea turtles, dolphins and whales.[5] Beautiful coral reefs stretch 400 km (250 mi) along the shore.[6] On land, elephants, lions, leopards and crocodiles roam through the National Park’s ancient forests.[7] If the gas companies caused just one single accident, they could completely destabilize this biodiversity paradise.[8]
For centuries, national elites and multinational corporations have been plundering the province’s abundant natural resources.[9] Their unsustainable extraction of Cabo Delgado’s ruby, graphite, gold and timber has made it one of Mozambique's poorest provinces.[10][11] The people who live in Cabo Delgado have never seen any of this resource wealth. They live off farming and
fishing.[12] Many people have no access to health care, education or jobs.[13]
Groups working on gas in Cabo Delgado: Justiça Ambiental! (Friends of the Earth Mozambique), Friends of the Earth International, Les Amis de la Terre France, EWNI (Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland), Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), Re:Common, Friends of the Earth US, Gastivists
Parts of the information presented in this text and in the sources has been collected and investigated by Friends of the Earth Mozambique / Justiça Ambiental! who work closely with communities in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Further Resources:
Since their arrival in Cabo Delgado, the gas companies have only added to the woes caused by this resource curse. In 2010 and 2011, geologists found enormous fossil gas reserves off the coast of Cabo Delgado.[14] International gas companies sensed big money and immediately began investing billions of dollars.[15] Now, Cabo Delgado houses four of the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion projects in Africa: TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG, Eni and ExxonMobil’s Coral North FLNG and ExxonMobil, Eni and CNPC’s Rovuma LNG are planned in the region.[16] In addition, Eni's already operational Coral South project is located here. According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the LNG projects have received 60 times more public finance than the entire country of Mozambique has for renewable projects.19519
Resettlement and Struggles for Adequate Compensation
As the main operators of the gas projects in Cabo Delgado, TotalEnergies, Eni and ExxonMobil promised the people there that they too would benefit from the gas discovery.[17][18][19] But this has not been the case. Instead, many people have lost their homes and been thrown into a year-long struggle for adequate compensation.25264 Often, compensation land and resettlement places are far away from the sea without adequate public transport to reach the coast. This can be disastrous for people who depend on farming and fishing.25263
On the Afungi Peninsula, companies bulldozed villages to make space for gas processing facilities for Eni’s and ExxonMobil’s Rovuma LNG and TotalEnergies’ Mozambique LNG projects.[20] 25230 The resettlement process for TotalEnergies' Afungi site has been underway since 2019, with the initial plan to resettle 556 families expanding to 643 over time.[21] Several communities had to leave their homes, to make way for the site, while others lost their agricultural land and access to the coast, sea and fishing grounds. Since November 2024, affected communities have taken a stronger stance against the gas project.25231 Their protests have borne fruits: TotalEnergies has picked up negotiations again.25233 As of spring 2026, new agreements have been signed with some communities. Others are still negotiating. A compensation and resettlement process that was expected to be swift, transparent, and fair has dragged on, marked by delays, non-compliance, lack of clarity, and new disputes. Resettlement grievances remain unresolved, while communities are limited in their ability to conduct their normal subsistence activities like fishing. Between 2024 and 2026, the Mozambican NGO Justiça Ambiental! registered about 1,300 complaints from gas-affected families in at least eight communities.252322523425235 Despite this, TotalEnergies has claimed that the resettlement plan’s “land-based”compensation activities were fully completed at year-end
2024.25260 With their projects, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Eni have pushed the people from Cabo Delgado even deeper into poverty.[26]
Fossil Gas and the Trail of Violence in Cabo Delgado
In 2017, a few years after the gas companies arrived, insurgents began devastating Cabo Delgado.[30] Since then, they have been attacking the government and gas projects – but mainly civilians. They have forced people out of their villages to then burn them down.[31] Journalists report them beheading men and chopping up their bodies.[32] Insurgents have raped women in the forest and kidnapped boys to force them to join their violent groups.[33][34] In some cases, the girls they kidnapped had to serve as their wives.[35]
In March 2021, the violence escalated to a new level. In their largest and most organized attack so far, hundreds of heavily armed insurgents took over the town of Palma.[45] Palma is a fishing town and the center of the gas industry.[46][47] For more than four days, the insurgents robbed food shops and banks, set fire to government buildings, burned down people’s homes and killed dozens of people.[48] Their terrorist attack displaced around 40,000 of the 75,000 people who used to live in the town.[49][50]
By the end of 2023, the insurgents had killed more than 6,500 people in Mozambique.15147 Between 2017 and 2025, the violence displaced over 1.3 million people.2524115147 In April 2025, still nearly 430,000 people were internally displaced in the province.25237 Attacks subsided somewhat in 2023, but are still ongoing across the region. 2025 saw a renewed increase, with frequent attacks also continuing in 2026.252381952219524195252146521466 Cabo Delgado has become a war-torn place; the people who live in the province are those who suffer most.15147[42]25261
The current minimum level of stability in the region depends primarily on the Rwandan armed forces, which are concentrated near the gas projects and at key strategic points. But Rwanda recently threatened to withdraw its own troops from the Mozambique LNG project area if adequate international funding for the mission is not provided.25248 The continuation and completion of the Mozambican LNG projects therefore remain uncertain .
Eni, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and the other gas companies chose to prioritize the protection of their gas projects over people’s lives. Following the insurgent assault on Palma in 2021, the companies realized their projects were no longer safe and reacted immediately. TotalEnergies suspended its operations in the province.25239 TotalEnergies is further known to have provided food, equipment, accommodation, and personal bonuses to the Joint Task Force (JTF) of the Mozambican army between August 2020 and October 2023.21464 The JTF protected the gas facilities. A human rights report commissioned by the company in 2023 cautioned against financially supporting the Joint Task Force, as this could render the company liable for the JTF’s conduct.25240
In September 2024, Politico reported allegations of a civilian massacre committed by armed forces near Mozambique LNG’s Afungi site.19527 The incident is reported to have occurred in July-September 2021, months after the violent insurgent attack on the town of Palma led to increased militarization in the region and the Mozambique LNG project’s suspension. According to Politico, troops assaulted civilians who were seeking safety, imprisoned them in windowless metal containers, sexually abused women and subjected them to torture. Of about 180-250 men reported to have been detained, only 26 are estimated to have survived. In response to the allegations, TotalEnergies refers to a published statement by Mozambique LNG claiming that despite maintaining channels of communication with the local communities during and after the alleged incidents, Mozambique LNG has not identified any information nor evidence that would corroborate the allegations of severe abuses and torture from the Politico article.2146025242 Le Monde and SourceMaterial have reported, based on internal communications from Total Energies’ Mozambique LNG subsidiary, that the company was allegedly aware of human right abuse accusations against the JTF between 2020 and 2022.2146125262
Projects Proceed as Gas Companies Ignore Risks
Gas developments continue to move forward in the region. Eni’s massive Coral South floating liquefaction facility exported its first LNG in November 2022.12367 According to an NGO report, Eni has been responsible for numerous flaring incidents since it began operating. Flaring involves burning off excess gas, which results in additional greenhouse gas emissions. According to the report, the company has failed to report adequately on its controversial practices.25243
Eni is also developing the Coral North FLNG project which is located near Quirimbas National Park. This park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in July 2018 and is home to marine life such as Sei whale, Blue whale, Sperm whale, Fin whale, and Indian Ocean hump-back dolphin as well as a number of sea turtle species and other marine animals.25244 Changes in the marine environment have serious repercussions for people who rely on fishing for their livelihoods and food security. In March 2026, United Nations experts strongly criticized the $150 million in financial sup-port granted to the Coral North FLNG project by the African Development Bank, pointing out that the project “risks exacerbating human rights harms, contributing to climate change, and diverting scarce public funds away from urgently needed investments in sustainable renewable energy.”25245
Despite the fragile security situation, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil had both restarted their projects on the Afungi peninsula by the beginning of 2026. The two companies share the same area for the construction of onshore gas facilities. TotalEnergies has sent thousands of workers to Cabo Delgado to proceed with the construction of Mozambique LNG.1514715147 The new security arrangements for the Afungi gas site are turning it into an isolated “fortress” which is only accessible by sea. Analysts have warned that restarting the TotalEnergies Mozambique LNG project could fuel recruitment into the insurgency, and that the exclusive security zone now being created could further alienate local people.25246 Still, the companies are moving forward. However, to complete their projects, the gas companies depend on numerous suppliers from all over the world. These suppliers will not necessarily go along with the gas companies’ decision to move on with their projects. TotalEnergies for instance needs gas turbines and compressors from German energy company Siemens Energy to be able to turn the gas into liquid. As of May 2026, the components had not been delivered. Siemens Energy stated end of 2025 that if the project is resumed, they will once again conduct comprehensive risk analyses.25247
For the people in the region, the return of the gas companies is no reason to celebrate. ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Eni and their partners will continue to trap the people in poverty, fear and violence for the sake of their own profit.
Sources:
