French lender Credit Agricole has declared it will no longer finance the Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique and the Papua LNG project in Papua New Guinea. The bank cited its commitments to reduce exposure to the oil and gas industry as the basis for its decision, according to a Reuters report on the news. Rovuma LNG and Papua LNG are two of the largest liquefied natural gas projects in progress, with the companies involved including Exxon, TotalEnergies, Eni, and Australia’s Santos.
Credit Agricole is moving away from LNG just as demand forecasts for the superchilled fuel brighten, with Shell recently forecasting demand will surge by 50% in the next 16 years. Africa has abundant but underdeveloped gas resources that projects such as Rovuma and Papua were going to tap, helping the economies of Mozambique and Papua with a new and potentially huge revenue stream.