Total SE’s announcement last month that it had landed nearly $15 billion in funding for a Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project came as a surprise given the economic impact of Covid-19, but financing massive export terminals is a complex and lengthy affair even in the best of times. 

LNG

The global gas supply glut and the coronavirus have combined to complicate the sanctioning and funding of newbuild LNG projects and expansions as financial institutions have been squeezed in the down economy. As a result, many projects have been delayed or cancelled this year.

However, Total’s ability to secure $14.9 billion of financing for what would be Africa’s first onshore LNG development in the midst of a virus outbreak offers insight into how projects are generally sponsored....