Eni is nearing a final investment decision (FID) on construction of a second floating liquefied natural gas unit (FLNG) in Mozambique’s Rovuma Basin, Area 4 after having secured government approval of the Italian major’s $7.2 billion development plan for the deepwater Coral Norte gas field.
While meeting in Maputo on 11 June with Mozambique President Daniel Chapo, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi told reporters that following government “authorization for the development plan with all terms agreed … Coral Norte is now something real.”
Eni’s plan to commercialize the Coral Norte gas field mirrors that of the already-producing Coral Sul FLNG development, which exported its first cargo in 2022 and remains Mozambique’s only active LNG project among government-sanctioned facilities.
Although Coral Norte’s reserves are not disclosed separately, they are drawn from the same reservoir as the Coral Sul, which Eni estimates holds between 450 and 500 Bcm of natural gas.
Floating Identical Twins
Like Coral Sul, the Coral Norte project envisions six subsea wells to be tied back to the new FLNG unit—a carbon copy of the Coral Sul facility. Eni says it is in discussions with Samsung Heavy Industries, which handled engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) for Coral Sul in collaboration with Technip Energies and Japan’s JGC.
Within days of Eni’s securing government approval for Coral Norte in April, the BusinessKorea news portal reported that Samsung was close to securing the nearly $2.5 billion contract to build the new 3.55-mtpa FLNG unit. If confirmed, the order would be the Korean firm’s largest of 2025 and would surpass its existing FLNG backlog as of early April.
Eni says it expects to take FID later this year, with Coral Norte projected to deliver its first LNG in Q2 2028.
Among Mozambique’s approved megaprojects to produce LNG from reserves in Areas 1 and 4 off the Cabo Delgado coast, those based onshore have been stalled by militant activity on the Afungi Peninsula. TotalEnergies’ declared force majeure on its $20 billion project to develop the offshore Golfinho and Atum fields in Area 1 and construct a 13.1-mtpa onshore liquefaction plant, following the evacuation of personnel in spring 2021.
In response to a question asked during a session at the Japan Energy Summit in Tokyo, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanné said on 18 June that he expects the project to resume development “this summer,” according to Reuters.
Similar concerns caused ExxonMobil to delay FID on its onshore liquefaction and export facility, which is part of the Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV). In this venture, ExxonMobil is responsible for constructing and operating the onshore liquefaction plant, while its consortium partner Eni leads the offshore field development in Area 4 as operator. The FID for the Rovuma LNG project, initially expected in 2025, has now been postponed to 2026.
But a thaw appears to be on the horizon.
Warm Weather, Gentle Breezes Ahead?
ExxonMobil reported in October the awarding of EPC contracts to a consortium of JGC, Fluor, and TechnipFMC (JFT) for construction of onshore liquefaction facilities as it moves toward a possible FID this year.
Pouyanné told reporters on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference in Beijing on 20 May that the French major’s Mozambique LNG project (a competitor to Eni-Exxon Mobil’s MRV development) is targeted to restart by August, Reuters reported.
In responding to questions during TotalEnergies’ Q1 earnings call on 30 April, Pouyanné told investment analysts that “the target … to relaunch this project (is the) middle of the year.”
“All the financing is back on track, thanks to the US exim (Export-Import Bank’s) decision. So now the shareholders have decided … to move forward with the project. We are still expecting one or two answers, but we could finance with our own equity and it’s more a question (now) of paperwork.”
