The foundation stone was laid for Congo LNG, the country's first natural gas liquefaction project and one of Eni's core supply diversification initiatives, on Tuesday.
The ground-breaking ceremony took place in the presence of the President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, and the Chief Executive Officer of Eni, Claudio Descalzi.
The project is expected to unlock an overall liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity of 3 million tons per year, equivalent to about 4.5 billion cubic meters per year, by 2025.
Congo LNG will harness the vast gas resources of Marine XII, providing extra volumes of gas to global markets focusing on Europe, while also meeting the country's power generation demands.
The project will see the installation of two floating natural gas liquefaction facilities (FLNG) in the Nene and Litchendjili fields, which are now in production, as well as in the fields still to be developed.
The first FLNG plant, which is currently being converted and has a capacity of 0.6 million tonnes per year (MTPA), will commence production in 2023. The second FLNG facility, which is now under construction, will be operational in 2025 with a capacity of 2.4 MTPA.
'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 regards to future diversification of supply routes and European energy mixes, in the direction of energy accessibility and availability and progressive decarbonisation,' Descalzi was quoted as saying in the statement.
Eni has been operating in Congo for over 50 years and is currently the only company active in the development of its gas resources, guaranteeing 70% of national electricity production through Centrale Electrique du Congo (CEC).
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr