March 13 (Reuters) -

The Trump administration has released almost $5 billion in

funding for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project by France's

TotalEnergies in Mozambique , the Financial Times

reported on Thursday.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank (Exim) has reapproved a $4.7

billion loan for the project, Estevao Pale, Mozambique's

minister for energy told the Financial Times.

TotalEnergies is

awaiting

loan re-approvals from the United States, the UK, and Dutch

export credit agencies before lifting a force majeure on the

project that has been in place since 2021.

The French energy giant declared force majeure on the $20

billion project in April 2021 after Islamic State-linked

fighters overran the town of Palma, on the doorstep of its

facilities in the northern Cabo Delgado province

Pale told FT he expects the UK and Netherlands to

reconfirm their support.

TotalEnergies, Exim and the White House did not

immediately respond to a request for comment. Mozambique's

energy ministry could not be immediately reached.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne in February

said

that financing for the $20 billion LNG project was expected

to be approved in the coming weeks.