Page 6 - GLNG Week 42 2022

GLNG AFRICA GLNG

Mozambique to dispatch

first LNG by end of October

MOZAMBIQUE MOZAMBIQUE is on track to export its first and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC);
LNG cargo from the Coral field, located off the Galp (Portugal); KOGAS (South Korea), and
coast of the country’s northernmost Cabo Del- ENH, the national oil company (NOC) of
gado province, by the end of October, Macao Mozambique.
News reported on October 19. Strong European demand has already led Eni
The publication, based in a special adminis- to expand the scope of the Coral South LNG pro-
trative region of China, quoted Mozambique’s ject. The Italian major said recently that it was
Finance Minister Max Tonela as saying to the planning to add a second floating LNG facility
Portuguese news agency Lusa: “We hope that so that it could expand production within less
before the end of October the first export of LNG than four years.
produced by Mozambique will take place.” The project is as yet not directly affected by
Lusa noted that natural gas from the Coral an Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado. That
field was already being processed into LNG for conflict has, however, disrupted two larger pro-
the upcoming shipment but did not provide any jects – Mozambique LNG, led by TotalEnergies
further details. However, TradeWinds reported (France), and Rovuma LNG, led by ExxonMobil
separately, citing data from Kpler, that BP-oper- (US). TotalEnergies began work on its project
ated tanker known as the British Sponsor had several years ago but suspended operations in
arrived at the Coral natural gas field as of Octo- March 2021, following a series of armed attacks
ber 16. It also quoted anonymous sources as say- near the site of its onshore processing facility on
ing that the 173,644-cubic metre ship had not yet the Afungi Peninsula.
loaded any LNG and would probably carry out As a result, Coral South LNG is set to become
a number of trials and dry runs before doing so. the first to bring Mozambique’s gas to market.
The cargo will eventually be loaded on the The African state’s reserves amount to around
tanker at the Coral Sul floating LNG (FLNG) 180 trillion cubic feet (5.1 trillion cubic metres)
facility installed at the Coral field by Eni (Italy) of gas, most of which are offshore in the Rovuma
and its partners in an international consortium basin where the three consortia have licences.
established to explore and develop a section of Rovuma gas exports are expected to gen-
the offshore block known as Area 4. erate 0.3% of the total revenue of the Mozam-
The FLNG vessel, which has a production bican state next year, which will be the first full
capacity of 3.4mn tonnes per year (tpy), will 12-month period of production from Coral
be used to process 450bn cubic metres of gas South LNG, Lusa noted, citing the national
from the Coral reservoir within Area 4. It is budget draft for 2023.
the first floating gas liquefaction plant ever to Mozambican gas production also has the
be deployed at a deepwater field off the coast of potential to benefit Europe by helping it to sta-
Africa. bilise gas supplies. European gas markets have
BP (UK) has signed an agreement making been in turmoil this year as a result of reduced
it the sole off-taker of LNG from the Coral Sul deliveries from Russia following that country’s
FLNG vessel over a period of 20 years. According invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
to previous reports, the super-major was orig- “The stars have re-aligned for Mozambican
inally slated to take delivery of its first cargo in gas projects, which could not only uplift the
August, but the shipment had to be rescheduled. Mozambican economy and help deliver secure
Eni discovered the Coral field at Area 4 in energy for industrial development, but also help
2012 and made an FID in favour of going for- alleviate worldwide supply shortages,” com-
ward with the $10bn Coral South LNG project mented Jonathan Ross, Head: Oil and Gas Sector
in 2017. The other shareholders in the project Solutions at RMB in London.™
are Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a
joint venture owned by Eni, ExxonMobil (US)

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 42 21•October•2022