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Eni says hull of Coral South FLNG vessel is complete
MOZAMBIQUE
ITALY’S Eni reported on January 14 that it had marked the completion of the hull of a floating LNG (FLNG) vessel that will be used for the Coral South LNG project in Mozambique.
In a statement, the company said it had cel- ebrated the launch of the hull – which is 432 metres long and 66 metres wide and weighs in at around 140,000 tonnes – by a shipyard owned by Samsung Heavy Industries in Geoje, South Korea.
The launch served to highlight the fact that work on the FLNG has been proceeding on schedule, it added. It explained that the vessel was already 60% complete and would be ready in time for production to begin as planned in 2022.
Eventually, the Italian company said, the hull will be fitted with an eight-storey accommoda- tion unit capable of housing up to 350 people.
This module has already been finished and is ready to be integrated with the hull, it said.
Meanwhile, it stated, SHI’s Geoje shipyard is engaged in fabrication activities for the FLNG’s
12 gas treatment and liquefaction modules. All of the key pieces of equipment needed to finish these modules are ready for integration into the hull, and the first deck stacking has been exe- cuted, it said.
Eni and its partners have said they intend to use the FLNG to process gas extracted from the Coral South licence area, which lies offshore Mozambique in the Indian Ocean. The vessel will be able to turn out 3.4mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG, and the partners will use 20 mooring lines weighing 9,000 tonnes altogether to anchor it in 2,000-metre-deep water at a site almost 50km from the coast.
The Coral South FLNG will be the world’s first ultra-deepwater gas liquefaction facility.
Eni was the first international oil company (IOC) to sign on to a major LNG scheme in Mozambique.
In 2017, it made an FID in favour of going forward with the $10bn Coral South LNG pro- ject. ™
FUELS
Sudan backtracks on fuel subsidy plan
SUDAN
SUDAN’S transitional government has delayed a plan to scrap fuel subsidies, fearing the public reaction to the move.
Finance Minister Ibrahim Elbadawi said on late last month that the subsidies would be lifted gradually, starting in Sudan’s 2020 budget. But the government then backtracked after meeting the following day with the opposition during the rule of ex-president Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted by the military in April.
No action will be taken until a conference in March, in which economic reforms will be dis- cussed, Information Minister Faisal Saleh told Reuters.
“In light of the decisions of this conference, the economic policies of the country [will be determined], including policies regarding com- modity subsidies,” he said.
Sudan’s new leadership faces no small task of turning the economy around after decades of mismanagement under the rule of Bashir and the lasting impact of the loss of most of its oil wealth after South Sudan’s 2011 secession.
The government has said it needs billions of
dollars in budgetary support to prevent the econ- omy from collapsing. But it has been unable to tap the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and other international financiers for money after its inclusion in the US’ list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The IMF has repeatedly called on Sudan to end the subsidies and float its currency in order to boost growth and investment. But the govern- ment is reluctant to adopt austerity measures too hastily for fear of putting too great a burden on the population and causing a public backlash. Its U-turn came after protestors threatened to return to the streets to protest against the 2020 budget.
Past attempts to lift subsidies have all ended in widespread social tensions. An attempt in 2013 led to nationwide protests that ended with the killing of more than 200 demonstrators by Bashir’s forces.
When announcing the plan to cut fuel sub- sidies, Elbadawi said public sector salaries would also be doubled to counter the impact of inflation.™
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