(World Oil)– Eni SpA gave financial approval to build a $7.2 billion floating liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique that will double the nation’s production of the fuel, adding to global supply just as a wave of new production hits later this decade.
The Coral Norte project off Mozambique’s northern coastline will be able to produce 3.6 million tons of LNG a year and will use the same design as Coral Sul, which started exporting the fuel in 2022.
“This is a commitment” that will make Mozambique the continent’s third-largest LNG producer after Nigeria and Angola, Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi said at a ceremony in Maputo, the capital. Production is expected to start in 2028.
The approval marks a turning point in the southern African nation’s LNG developments to export its significant gas discoveries, which had been set back by militancy over the past few years. Momentum has returned in recent months with both TotalEnergies SE and Eni readying contractors and signing agreements for preliminary work to develop the deposits that can transform the economy of one of the world’s poorest nations.
