Maputo, Oct. 2, 2025 (Lusa) - Oil company Eni is on Thursday due to sign the Final Investment Decision with Mozambique for the second gas platform in the Rovuma basin, Coral North, worth US$7.2 billion (€6.2 billion).
The decision, known as FID, is the last and crucial stage in the development of mega energy projects and, according to an executive source, the commitment will be made in Maputo at a ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. local time (3 p.m. in Lisbon) attended by the country's president, Daniel Chapo, and the management of the Italian oil company.
Eni will operate the Coral North FLNG project - as it already does with Coral South - on behalf of Rovuma Mozambique Venture (MRV), a consortium with a 70% stake, which also includes ExxonMobil and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).
Mozambique expects to raise US$23 billion (€20.1 billion) over 30 years with the Coral Norte project, Eni's second floating liquid natural gas (FNLG) platform for the production of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the Rovuma basin, Cabo Delgado.
‘According to the approved development plan, over the next 25 years - therefore 30 years, part of which will be spent on the construction and assembly of this system, whose operation will span 25 years - (...) the government will collect US$23 billion in revenue, taxes and other contributions," said government spokesman Inocêncio Impissa in April.
The spokesman added that, in addition, the project, approved days earlier by the Cabinet, "also provides for the supply of natural gas to the domestic market in the proportion of 25% of the total gas to be produced, in accordance with national legislation, and 100% of the condensate for power generation," enabling the "development of industrialisation projects in Mozambique."
"The project will also generate 1,400 jobs for Mozambicans, with plans to implement a succession plan to increase the skills and availability of Mozambican labour in the oil and gas sector," he added.
On 8 April, the Mozambican government approved Eni's investment in the Coral Norte LNG project, with an expected production of 3.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and start-up in 2028.
"The plan constitutes the second phase of development of the Coral Norte field, FLNG, and consists of a floating natural gas liquefaction infrastructure with a capacity of 3.55 million tonnes per year and six production wells, valued at around US$7.2 billion, with production scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2028," announced Inocêncio Impissa at the time.
The CEO of oil company Eni, Claudio Descalzi, assured Mozambican president Daniel Chapo on 16 January that he planned to expand operations in the LNG project in the Rovuma basin, "projecting Mozambique onto the global natural gas scene".
A source at oil company Eni, concessionaire of Area 4 of Rovuma, told Lusa in October 2023 that it was discussing with the government the development of a second floating platform, a copy of the first (Coral South) and named Coral North, to increase gas extraction.
The plan involves the acquisition of a second FNLG floating platform for the Coral North area, identical to the one that has been operating in gas extraction since mid-2022 in the Coral South area, it said at the time.
A study by the consulting firm Deloitte concluded in 2024 that Mozambique's LNG reserves - which currently have projects underway or under study by multinational oil companies such as TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Eni - represent potential revenues of US$100 billion (€96.2 billion).
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
