22 h 30 min, 11 août 2014 ans - Anadarko destroys villages in Africa

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Anadarko's Controversial Mozambique Project
The Wall Street Journal by Devon MaylieFollow
and Daniel GilbertFollow Aug. 11, 2014 10:30 pm ET

"PALMA, Mozambique—Few roads lead to this fishing village on the eastern shores of Africa. Drinking water and electricity are in short supply. Hazards include venomous snakes, malaria-bearing mosquitoes and gun-toting antigovernment rebels.

But this is where Anadarko Petroleum wants to build one of the biggest projects ever attempted by a Western energy company. It has pledged to install acres of air-conditioned housing, an airstrip and a port—and to relocate almost 3,000 villagers currently living in mud huts.

The search for oil has drawn companies to remote locations throughout the petroleum industry's history. But Anadarko isn't here for black gold. The American company is after something more abundant, albeit less lucrative: natural gas located about 30 miles offshore.

There is more than just one catch, though, with one of the largest energy discoveries in decades. The nearest viable customers are a hemisphere away. And it may cost tens of billions of dollars to tap the gas. Deep-pocketed buyers have expressed interest in the project, but some have yet to commit.

"Oil is probably easier," concedes Don MacLiver, the executive in charge of the Mozambique project's development. But like many major oil companies, Texas-based Anadarko has to go with the opportunities available. These, he says, include "large gas discoveries in remote locations."

This is the challenge for many of the biggest energy companies operating around the globe: Natural gas, not oil, accounts for two-thirds of the petroleum reserves discovered over the last decade, according to data from consulting firm IHS Inc. And many of the largest finds are nowhere near homes and businesses that can burn the fuel.

The Mozambique project, which has run up about $1 billion in costs for Anadarko thus far, is among the most extreme efforts to convert such huge discoveries into marketable energy. With customers so far away, Anadarko plans to build giant freezer-like devices to chill the gas to the temperature of the ice-encrusted moon that orbits Jupiter. The process converts gas into a liquid state so that it can be loaded onto refrigerated tankers and shipped by sea, like oil.

Exporting this fuel can provide companies with a longer, steadier stream of cash flow than pumping oil, but without crude's heftier profit margin.

Other big energy outfits are working on similar projects. Italy's Eni SpA, for instance, is planning one adjacent to Anadarko's.

Companies including the U.K.'s BG Group and Norway's Statoil ASA are planning another such venture to capitalize on gas they've struck off the coast of Tanzania, Mozambique's neighbor to the north.

Many analysts estimate the global demand for liquid natural gas, or LNG, will double in 20 years, led by fast-growing economies in Asia. Europe's demand for ocean-borne gas imports may also rise as countries look for alternatives to gas piped in from Russia.

"We've never seen in the history of the industry this amount of planned capacity," says Chris Holmes, senior director of IHS, referring to liquefied-gas export projects.

But the projects in east Africa will have to compete against many others, including some in similarly remote but less politically challenging areas, like Australia and Alaska. Mozambique's gas will also face competition from shale gas in the U.S., where existing infrastructure lowers the cost of exporting it.

Anadarko's bet on Mozambique is particularly bold. With a market capitalization of $54.9 billion, it would become the first U.S. company of its size to tap, liquefy and export gas. Such projects have previously been the domain of giants like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which pull in 30 times the revenue of Anadarko.

The expected tab for drilling the wells and building the initial two plants to chill the gas in Palma—as much as $16 billion—is more than Mozambique's $15.3 billion gross domestic product in 2013. With a 26.5% stake, Anadarko's share of the costs would be roughly $4.2 billion.

The company harbors some even grander plans. Over the next few decades, it envisions building as many as 14 refrigerated plants here, says Mr. MacLiver, the Anadarko executive. Such a scale could rival the world's biggest hub for exporting liquefied gas in Qatar.

But the price tag could rise considerably. Since 2000, the cost of building LNG projects has more than tripled, according to consulting firm Merlin Advisors LLC. The LNG projects in east Africa won't have the foreign-exchange risks of plants in Australia, where costs have ballooned, and some analysts don't expect to see similar cost blowouts. But rival projects in the region could stretch the market for skilled labor and materials and push up prices.

Anadarko executives say they are confident they can control costs in Mozambique, noting that its gas is closer to shore than rival projects and the wells are more prolific."

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