Italian explorer ENI is looking to contract a rig to carry out drilling, completion and testing of four wells, in Coral Norte project offshore Mozambique, with start-up scheduled for the third quarter of 2024.
ENI has proposed Coral Norte as the second floating liquified natural Gas (FLNG) project, to drain reserves in Mozambique’s Area 4.
The first project, Coral Sul FLNG, commenced delivery of its first cargo in August 2022.
ENI is designing Coral Norte FLNG, as an exact copy of Coral Sul FLNG; with the same capacity for 3.3Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum, as it has for Coral Norte FLNG.
Building a second platform is considered as an efficient way to maximise the profitability of the gas resources discovered in the Coral structure.
The planned investment in Coral Norte is $7Billion and will still be subject to approval by the Mozambican government.
Coral Norte will be stationed 10 kilometres north of Coral Sul, the first project to take advantage of the large reserves in the deepwater Rovuma Basin.
ENI’s proposal consists of production commencement in the second half of 2027, meaning it could start up before the onshore projects, which depend on the consolidation of security conditions in the face of threats of terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado.
ENI is looking for drilling rig that must, among other characteristics, have a nominal water depth of 3,000 metres and a minimum drilling depth of 5,500 metres.. The rig must also be able to operate in conditions of strong sea currents with a suitable riser drilling system.
