- Eni, as Upstream Delegated Operator of Area 4 on behalf of its Partners ExxonMobil, CNPC, GALP, KOGAS and ENH has announced that their Coral Sul Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) plant has drawn hydrocarbons (gas) from the Coral South reservoir, offshore Mozambique.
Following the introduction of gas in the plant, Coral Sul FLNG will now be ready to achieve its first LNG cargo in the second half of 2022, adding Mozambique to the LNG-producing countries.
Hydrocarbons introduction comes after the safe and timely conclusion of the offshore commissioning activities. The FLNG arrived at the final operating site offshore Mozambique in early January 2022; mooring and connection to six underwater production wells activities were finalized in March and May 2022, respectively.
The Coral South project achieved Final Investment Decision in 2017, only 34 months after the last appraisal well; FLNG fabrication and construction activities started in September 2018 (Hull first steel cut), and were completed in 38 months as planned, despite the COVID19 pandemic, with a FLNG Sail Away, from South Korea to Mozambique, on November 2021. While performing the construction activities in Korea, several significant activities were undertaken in Mozambique, with support from the Mozambican authorities, including the ultra-deep waters (2000m wd) Drilling and Completion and Offshore Installation campaign that involved the highest technological and operational skills.
Related news: TotalEnergies calls force majeur at their USD25 billion LNG Project in Alfungi, Cabo Delgado, onshore in northern Mozambique
Coral-Sul FLNG has been implemented with an energy optimization approach, integrated in the design via a systematic analysis of energy efficiency improvements. These include among others, zero flaring during normal operations, use of thermal efficient aero-derivative gas turbines for refrigerant compressors and generation, use of Dry Low NOx technology to reduce NOx emission and waste heat recovery systems for the process.
The Coral Sul gas extraction and liquefaction platform is the first in deep water, and the first project of its kind developed in Africa.
Image credit: ENI
The Coral Sul FLNG is 432 meters long and 66 meters wide, weights around 220,000 tons and has the capacity to accommodate up to 350 people in its eight-story Living Quarter module. The facility is located at a water-depth of around 2,000 meters and is kept in position by means of 20 mooring lines that totally weight 9,000 tons. Coral Sul FLNG has a gas liquefaction capacity of 3.4 million tons per year (MTPA) and will put in production 450 billion cubic meters of gas from the giant Coral reservoir, located in the offshore Rovuma Basin. Coral-Sul FLNG is the first floating LNG facility ever deployed in the deep waters of the African continent.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
