(Reuters) -The Trump administration has released almost $5 billion in funding for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project by France’s TotalEnergies in Mozambique , the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Exim) has reapproved a $4.7 billion loan for the project, Estevao Pale, Mozambique’s minister for energy told the Financial Times.
TotalEnergies is awaiting loan re-approvals from the United States, the UK, and Dutch export credit agencies before lifting a force majeure on the project that has been in place since 2021.
The French energy giant declared force majeure on the $20 billion project in April 2021 after Islamic State-linked fighters overran the town of Palma, on the doorstep of its facilities in the northern Cabo Delgado province
Pale told FT he expects the UK and Netherlands to reconfirm their support.
TotalEnergies, Exim and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mozambique’s energy ministry could not be immediately reached.
TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne in February said that financing for the $20 billion LNG project was expected to be approved in the coming weeks.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
