Paris, April 26 - Neftegaz.RU. The French company said it had withdrawn all its personnel from the Afungi site.
As such, it has declared the stoppage officially.
The move follows a terrorist attack on the nearby town of Palma, on March 24.
The assault lasted for some days and killed a number of people, both locals and expatriates.
Total said it expressed its solidarity with the government and the Mozambique people.
It went on to say that it hoped the actions taken by the government, and its partners, would «enable the restoration of security and stability in Cabo Delgado province in a sustained manner».
The attack came just as Total had said it would return to work.
It had put things on pause at the beginning of the year in the face of the rising insurgency.
The company’s decision is not a surprise.
In recent weeks a number of reports have emerged of Total terminating contracts.
Local media has reported some concerns around security forces looting equipment at the Afungi site.
The French company is the operator of Mozambique LNG with a 26.5% stake.
State-owned ENH Rovuma Area Um has 15%. Japanese, Indian and Thai companies hold the remaining equity.
Mozambique seems to lack the capacity to tackle the local terrorist problems on its own.
It seems increasingly likely that some amount of international response will be required, led initially by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The latter group declared it would investigate the Cabo Delgado problem in an April 8 meeting, called in response to the attack.
SADC will meet again on April 28-29.
The US has deployed a small group of military trainers, as has Portugal.
Author: Ed Reed
