MAPUTO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The French oil giant Total said Monday it will resume activities in Mozambique when security in the north of the country is restored, Mozambique's daily newspaper Noticias reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, Total's chairman Patrick Pouyanne confirmed the company's commitment to the 20-billion-U.S. dollar natural gas project in Cabo Delgado, at the end of a meeting with the Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi, in France, where he has been visiting since Monday.
"Total is very committed to maintaining its project in Mozambique. We are working. There was this incident in Palma. For security reasons, we had to take difficult measures, but our commitment remains," said the chairman.
Total withdrew its personnel and suspended operations in Mozambique's northern province Cabo Delgado, following a major terrorist attack on the province's Palma village close to Total's LNG project in March.
"We are for safety, especially people's safety, so we had to remove our personnel," he continued, ensuring to the press that "as soon as security conditions have been restored in Cabo Delgado, we will be back."
Pouyanne said he has full confidence in the government of Mozambique, which is working to restore security. Enditem
