Italian major ENI has launched the Hull of the Coral North Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) vessel, a performative event, in line with the project’s schedule.
Coral North will be the second next-generation floating LNG facility to be located in the Rovuma basin, offshore Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, and will produce gas from the northern part of the Coral field on the Area 4 Licence in deepwater.
With a liquefaction production capacity of 3.6Million tonnes per year (MMTPA), Coral North will double Mozambique’s total LNG production to 7 MMTPA. This milestone will position the country as Africa’s third-largest LNG producer and exporter, strengthening its role as a key player in the global energy landscape.
The launch of a Hull marks the moment the vessel’s main structure is floated for the first time, a crucial part of the pre- installation, before outfitting and integration of processing modules ahead of offshore deployment. The event was witnessed in Geoje, South Korea by Estevão Pale, Mozambique’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Guido Brusco and ENI’s Chief Operating Officer, Global Natural Resources.
Leveraging the knowledge and experience gained since the start of production at Coral South in 2022, Coral North is designed to deliver greater efficiency and performance optimization, while reducing costs and minimizing execution risks, with the aim of completing the project by 2028, ENI said in a release.
ENI first discovered natural gas in Mozambique’s vast deepwater Rovuma Basin in 2011, five years after it showed up in the country. From 2011 to 2014, the company discovered the Coral, Mamba Complex, and Agulha fields, with approximately 85Trillion cubic feet of gas in place. Coral South, the first gas production project from the Basin, has already successfully delivered over 135 LNG cargoes to the market.
