Samsung Heavy Industries launched the Coral North floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) hull, which will serve Eni’s project offshore Mozambique.
Samsung and Eni announced the hull launch on 16 January.
Coral North will be Eni’s second FLNG facility in the Rovuma Basin, and it’s expected to reach first gas in the second quarter of 2028. Eni and its partners sanctioned the $7.2-billion deepwater FLNG project in October 2025. Coral North is expected to double production from the area, where the Coral South FLNG unit has been online since 2022.
Eni said Coral North will build on knowledge and experience gained since Coral South started production.
Coral North will have a liquefaction capacity of 3.6 mtpa, which will bring total LNG output from the Coral gas field to 7 mtpa and mark the country as Africa’s third-largest LNG producer and exporter. Eni has found about 2.4 Tcm of gas in place in the Coral, Mamba Complex, and Agulha reservoirs in the Rovuma Basin since the initial 2011 discovery.
Samsung held the launch ceremony at its Geoje shipyard. Samsung previously built and delivered the Coral South FLNG hull.
The Coral North unit is 432 m long and 66 m wide with a launch weight of 123,000 tons.
Samsung Heavy Industries and Eni signed a preliminary work agreement worth $637 million in July 2025. Samsung has saif it aims to complete construction in 2028.
Eni operates the field with 50% interest on behalf of partners China National Petroleum Company with 20%, Korea Gas Corporation with 10%, Mozambican state-owned national oil company ENH with 10%, and ADNOC’s XRG subsidiary with 10%.
Delfin LNG FID Expected
In related news, Delfin Midstream announced on 12 January it had extended a letter of intent to Samsung for FLNG construction for a unit to be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico. Delfin said final investment decision (FID) on Delfin LNG—a brownfield deepwater port project requiring minimal additional infrastructure investment to support up to three FLNG vessels producing up to 13.2 mtpa—is expected within the month.