Mozambique’s state oil and fuel company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) is launching a set of investor presentations this week to raise US$1.5 billion to fund the company’s share in the Area 1 natural gas project, in which it holds a 15% stake, said the chairman of the Mozambican state company.

Omar Mithá told Bloomberg that the first investor meeting will take place this week in Johannesburg, followed by London, adding that funding may come from banks, mutual funds or even stakes in the project.

This will be the first time that a Mozambican state-owned company will use the international financial markets following the restructuring of the debt taken on by Mozambican tuna company Ematum with backing from the State, agreed with investors and finalised in late October.

Although Fitch Ratings has recently upgraded Mozambique’s credit rating from “DR” to “CCC”, the country is still identified as having very high risks, and its investment-grade debt is highly speculative.

The Rovuma Basin Area 1 project recently changed operators after Total acquired the assets of the Anadarko Petroleum Corp group in Africa following the acquisition of the latter by Occidental Petroleum Corp.

The block in question is operated by the Total group, with 26.5%, and its partners are ENH Rovuma Area A, a subsidiary of Mozambican state oil group ENH with 15%, Mitsui E&P Mozambique Area1 Ltd. ( (20%), ONGC Videsh Ltd. (10%), Beas Rovuma Energy Mozambique Limited (10%), BPRL Ventures Mozambique B.V. (10%), and PTTEP Mozambique Area 1 Limited (8.5%)