CAPE TOWN, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Mozambique has granted its

top state-owned companies, including national oil firm ENH, a

30-year concession to build and operate natural gas facilities

at the Port of Beira and the smaller Inhassoro site, the

government said on Monday.

Efforts by the Southern African country to develop its oil

and gas reserves have been hampered by an ongoing

Islamist-linked insurgency in the north of the country that has

delayed TotalEnergies' LNG plant, despite some improvements in

security.

The concession will be managed through a special-purpose

vehicle formed by ENH, ports and railways company CFM,

electricity company EDM and Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric (HCB),

alongside technical and financial partners selected by

government.

The exclusive deal covers a liquefied natural gas terminal,

storage facilities and the 865-kilometre (537.5 mile) Rompco

pipeline linking Mozambique's gas fields to South Africa. Rompco

is a public-private partnership between the Mozambican and South

African governments, each holding 40%, and Sasol, which

holds the remaining 20%.

"The project is based on a floating storage and

regasification unit (FSRU) anchored in Beira and Inhambane and

connected to the pipeline," the National Petroleum Regulator

(INP) said on its website.

The government approved the concession last week as efforts

by TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) push ahead

with their own LNG projects.

The new infrastructure aims to support the transportation of

LNG from different projects in the Rovuma Basin, where

TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) are active, while also boosting

industrialisation by ensuring that a share of gas enters the

domestic market, INP said.

"This is the logistical backbone that was missing to

transform the potential of Rovuma gas into real value for the

country," said a Sasol spokesperson.