At the presence of Mozambique’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Ernesto Max Tonela, Eni and its Area 4 partners held Thursday (Sept 6) at Geoje Island, South Korea, the “First Steel Cut” ceremony that marks the beginning of the construction of the Hull of Coral South’s Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) vessel.

Eni begins construction of the Hull for Coral South Floating LNG Unit
Caption: Ernesto Max Tonelas, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of the Republic of Mozambique, pushed the plasma cutter button with Mr. J.O.Nam, CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries, and Eng. Stefano Maione, Eni’s EVP for the Mozambique Program.

The ceremony takes place just 15 months after Coral South Project’s Final Investment Decision, highlighting the commitment of Area 4 Partners to start LNG production by 2022.

The Hull is designed to accommodate the storage facilities for all the substances that will be processed and produced in the floating liquefaction plant, mainly Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and condensates. In addition to the storage tanks, some of the electrical, instrumentation and mechanical rooms, as well as all maritime systems related to cargo management, will be located in the Hull.

The FLNG construction started with the steel cut for the ship’s Turret, which took place in March this year in Singapore.

The other main component of the FLNG, the topside modules, will also be built in South Korea at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyards and the construction is planned to start end of this year. The FLNG is expected to be completed by the end of 2021 and first gas is expected in 2022.

Eni is the delegated operator for the Coral South FLNG project, the first project to monetise the world class gas resources discovered in Area 4, Mozambique. The Area 4 participants are Eni (25%), ExxonMobil (25%), CNPC (20%), Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P. (10%), Kogas (10%) and Galp Energia (10%).

Source: ENI