Eni prepares second Mozambique LNG terminal: press

Eni could deliver a second LNG production vessel for its Coral-Sul FLNG project offshore Mozambique,  Bloomberg reported August 2.

Eni's CEO of natural resources Guido Brusco confirmed the plans in an interview with the newswire, calling it a "great opportunity for Europe to diversify" supplies. 

He suggested a second FLNG vessel could be ready in just four years' time, challenging TotalEnergies' rival $20bn Mozambique LNG project which in 2021 halted development amid Islamist terrorism concerns. TotalEnergies hopes to resume development at Mozambique LNG this year, though the African Development Bank has said lead times could be delayed for 12 to 18 months.

Coral-Sul FLNG's first 3.4mn metric tons/year phase is scheduled to begin exporting gas in H2 2022, having received the first gas from the upstream Coral South gas field in June.  The project's management duties are split, with Eni taking charge of offshore operations in Area 4 and project partner ExxonMobil in charge of onshore Area 4 assets. An FID on a second FLNG train would also need to be cleared with the other Coral-Sul shareholders, China's CNPC and Mozambican state-owned Empresa Nacional de Hidrocaronetos.

The offshore location of the Coral-Sul FLNG has shielded it from a damaging Islamic State-linked insurgency which last year caused TotalEnergies to pause its 12.8mn mt/yr onshore LNG export facility. Mozambique's IS insurgency started in 2017 and has killed at least 4,131 people, and has also affected Exxon's FID plans for an onshore gas development with the Coral-Sul consortium partners, Bloomberg said.

Brusco added: "It is crucial to move quickly, as demand for floating LNG platforms and the materials needed to build them will increase. In the current situation, time is of essence.”