Italian oil company ENI expects to begin exporting natural gas from its Rovuma Bay field off Mozambique on schedule in the second half of 2022, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency quotes a spokesman for ENI has saying the Rovuma Bay concessionaire, Mozambique Rovuma Venture SpA, is waiting for the response of the Mozambican government to its plan for developing the field, submitted last July, and hopes to decide this year whether to put more money into the project.

Mozambique Rovuma Venture is a joint venture in which state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. is a partner.

The plan envisages a floating liquefied natural gas production platform with the capacity to produce 3.4 tonnes of gas a year, Lusa says.

Separately, Engineering News quotes an executive of Standard Bank, Paul Eardley-Taylor, as saying Mozambique will eventually become an important supplier of natural gas to China.