Qatar Farms into Eni Block off Mozambique
Eni has ceded Qatar Petroleum a 25.5% participating interest in Block A5-A, offshore Mozambique, subject to the host government's approval, the Italian company said March 11.
Eni won the block, in the Northern Zambezi Basin, some 1,500 km northeast of the capital Maputo, in the fifth competitive licensing round and the exploration and production contract was signed last October. It extends over an area of 5,133 km² in a water depth between 300 and 1,800 metres, in a completely unexplored zone in front of the town of Angoche.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
When Equinor left the venture owing to the time taken to agree the terms for an exploration contract, Eni took its 25.5% stake, giving it 59.5%, which will become 34% again after the farm out is approved. Other partners are South Africa Sasol, with 25.5%, and the Mozambican state company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), with 15%.
"Today's transaction represent another milestone in the strategic path that Eni and QP undertook to further strengthen their partnership worldwide", Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said.
Eni has been present in Mozambique since 2006, when it gained the giant reserves in Petroleum Contract Area 4, in the offshore Rovuma basin. Total gasin place is estimated at in excess of 85 trillion ft³ following a very successful exploration campaign, with the discoveries of Coral, Mamba and Agulha.
The Coral initial development program includes the construction of a 3.4mn mt/year floating plant (FLNG), to treat, liquefy, store and offload LNG. Construction has started in June 2017 and production is expected to start in 2022.
The development program includes an onshore plant of two trains for gas treatment and liquefaction, with a liquefaction capacity of 15.2mn mt/year, which will be the first phase of the Rovuma LNG project. The project is expected to be sanctioned in 2019 and production is expected to start in 2024.
Eni and Qatar Petroleum are already partners in Oman and Mexico.