Eni Secures More Mozambique Acreage
Eni has formally signed a contract for rights over Mozambique offshore block A5-A – a full three years after it was awarded to it under the country's fifth offshore licensing round.
The block, some 1,500 km offshore to the northeast of the capital Maputo, was awarded under the country's 5th competitive licensing round in October 2015 but only formally signed now.
A5-A extends over an area of 5,133 km2 in water depths of between 300 and 1,800 metres in a completely unexplored zone in front of the town of Angoche. Eni is operator with a 59.5% interest and partners are South Africa's Sasol 25.5% and Mozambican state producer ENH 15%. Eni said the contract was signed in Maputo October 17 in the presence of energy minister Ernesto Max Tonela.
The exploration and production rights contract covers the deep waters offshore of northern Zambezi basin.
Wrangling over terms since the late 2015 award prompted Equinor (formerly Statoil) to relinquish a 25.5% stake in A5-A early this year, prior to its formal signature. Eni picked up that interest, increasing its stake from 34% to the present 59.5%.
The government finally agreed to sign the contracts awarded in 2015 under its 5th round only this August: they include this one to Eni, plus one also offshore to Exxon partnered by Rosneft which was reported to have been formally signed last week.
Area 4 achievements
Following an intense three-year exploration campaign from 2011 until 2014, Eni discovered the supergiant Coral, Mamba and Agulha gas fields with an estimated 2,407bn m3 gas in place. These are now under development by the Area 4 consortium of Eni 25%, ExxonMobil, 25%, CNPC 20%, with ENH, South Korean Kogas and Portugal's Galp each holding 10% interests.
The Area 4 consortium is already developing a 3.4mn mt/yr Coral floating LNG project, operated by Eni, for intended start-up in 2022.
The Area 4 group is expected, says Eni, to take a final investment decision next year on a much larger onshore-based export project. Referred to either as Mamba LNG and Rovuma LNG, this consists of two onshore trains with a combined liquefaction capacity of 15.2mn mt/yr to be developed and operated by ExxonMobil, production from which is expected to start in 2024.