Paper short abstract:

In this paper we argue that Mozambique has seen a profound reform process separating the commercial and regulatory functions of key institutions in the gas sector. Reforms since the early 1980s have been driven by the need to provide the necessary regulatory frameworks to support major investments.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, we argue that Mozambique has seen a profound reform process separating the commercial and regulatory functions of key institutions in the gas sector. Reforms since the early 1980s have been driven by the need to provide the necessary regulatory frameworks to support major investments. These reforms have generally been supported by international donors and financial institutions. A key feature of the reform process has been the ability of the dominant ruling elite to use these reforms to reproduce its power and use the gas sector for purposes of its own accumulation. This has happened through the control over access to and the sale of natural gas to the domestic market and most importantly to energy generation, with participation by party-owned companies. We argue that, while the regulatory and commercial aspects of the gas sector have been separated over time, with some core expertise being established in what resemble Pockets of Efficiency (PoEs) in the National petroleum Institute (INP) and the Tax Authorities (TA), the dominant ruling elites in and around the executive have used this expertise to ensure that rents from the gas industry can be extracted, despite the extent of the reforms.