Eni SPA's board has authorized investment for the first phase of development for the Coral discovery—the Coral South project—in the deepwater Rovuma basin offshore Mozambique, moving the project a step closer to a final investment decision.
The project involves the construction of 6 subsea wells connected to a floating LNG (FLNG) facility with a liquefaction capacity of 3.3 million tonnes/year, or 5 billion cu m. Mozambique authorities approved the project development plan in February (OGJ Online, Feb. 24, 2016).
Discovered in May 2012, Coral field is entirely within Area 4 and contains 450 bcm of gas in place. Eni and its Area 4 partners in October signed a 20-year agreement with BP PLC for the sale of all LNG volumes produced by Coral South FLNG.
Eni is operator of Area 4 with 50% indirect interest owned through subsidiary Eni East Africa (EEA), which holds 70% stake in Area 4. Other concessionaires are Galp Energia SGPS SA, Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS), and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos de Mocambique (ENH), each with 10%. China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) owns 20% indirect interest through Eni East Africa.
