Eni launches Congo LNG project
Eni launches Congo LNG project - Offshore Energy
Eni launches Congo LNG project
Italian oil and gas company Eni has inaugurated the Congo LNG, the country’s first natural gas liquefaction project and one of Eni’s supply diversification initiatives.
The President of the Republic of the Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso and the CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzi laid the foundation stone at the ceremony.
Descalzi commented: “Today we celebrate the launch of one of Eni’s main projects, made possible by the collaboration with the Republic of the Congo and destined to significantly contribute to both Italy and Europe’s energy security and industrial competitiveness. This outcome speaks to the importance of long-term collaboration with our African partners at a time when important strategic choices need to be made in regard to future diversification of supply routes and European energy mixes, in the direction of energy accessibility and availability and progressive decarbonisation.”
The Congo LNG project is expected to reach an overall LNG production capacity of 3 million tonnes per year (approximately 4.5 billion cubic metres/year) from 2025, and according to Eni, it will exploit the gas resources of Marine XII project, fulfilling the country’s power generation needs while also fuelling LNG exports, and supplying new volumes of gas to international markets focusing on Europe.
Eni said the project will see the installation of two floating natural gas liquefaction plants (FLNG) at the Nenè and Litchendjili fields (already in production and at the fields yet to be developed). The first FLNG plant, currently under conversion and with a capacity of 0.6 million tonnes per year (MTPA), is expected to begin production in 2023, while the second FLNG plant, already under construction, is expected to become operative in 2025, with a capacity of 2.4 MTPA.
To note, Eni has been operating in Congo for over 50 years and is active in the development of its gas resources.
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.