Eni readies vessels to boost Congo LNG project
Eni SPA has launched a production vessel and is readying another as part of the Congo LNG Project, the country's first natural gas liquefaction project, in the Marine XII concession offshore the Republic of Congo.
The Nguya floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit has sailed away from Shanghai, the company said in a release Aug. 26. The unit is 376 m long and 60 m wide and will be moored in 35 m of water.
Eni also noted the floating production and compression unit (FPU), formerly the Scarabeo 5 drilling rig, has been refurbished by Saipem and will depart in the coming days.
Saipem completed conversion of the semi-submersible drilling unit into an FPU to send processed gas to the Nguya unit.
Saipem’s activities entailed the engineering, procurement, construction, transportation, and commissioning of the FPU, which will be installed northwest of the Djeno Terminal. Once installed, it will serve as a control hub for the entire offshore development of the project.
Work on subsea infrastructure required to launch Phase 2 of the Congo LNG project is progressing on schedule, enabling mooring and startup by end-2025.
The 0.6-million tonnes/year (tpy) Tango FLNG began production in December 2023 and has exported 12 cargoes. The Tango FLNG is moored alongside the Excalibur floating storage unit (FSU), and will be joined by the 2.4-million tpy Nguya FLNG by yearend, bringing the total capacity of the Congo LNG project to 3 million tpy.
Natural gas for the project is supplied by Eni’s Marine XII concession, which lies 20 km offshore Congo and holds 1.3-billion boe proven and probable reserves (OGJ Online, Apr. 27, 2023).