Italian energy extractive company ENI, which holds a 50% stake in the Area 4 offshore gas resources in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin, has recorded the hull launch of the Coral North floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Geoje, South Korea.
Mozambique's Minister of Natural Resources, Estevão Pale and ENI’s chief operating officer for Global Natural Resources, Guido Brusco, attended the event last week.
Project partners include China National Petroleum Corporation, ENI, KOGAS and XRG.
"Coral North will be the second state-of-the-art floating LNG facility to be deployed in the Rovuma Basin waters, offshore Cabo Delgado, north of Mozambique, and will bring to production the gas from the northern part of Coral gas reservoir," said ENI.
Building on experience from Coral South, which began production in 2022, Coral North features enhanced efficiency and optimised performance to reduce costs and execution risks. The project remains on schedule for completion by 2028.
With a liquefaction capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), Coral North will double Mozambique’s total LNG output to 7 mtpa. This will position the country as Africa’s third-largest LNG producer and exporter, enhancing its role in the global energy market.
The development is expected to more than double the economic impact for Mozambique through LNG revenues, growth in local industry, job creation and expanded investments in community initiatives.
ENI has operated in Mozambique since 2006, discovering significant gas resources in the Rovuma Basin between 2011 and 2014, including the Coral, Mamba Complex and Agulha reservoirs, totalling around 2 400 billion cubic metres of gas in place.
Coral South, the basin's first producing project, has delivered more than 135 LNG cargoes to market.
