LNG

Italian oil and gas major Eni said it closed the sale to Anglo-French energy company Perenco of Eni’s participation interest in several upstream permits in the Republic of the Congo in West Africa.

The Republic of the Congo and Italian energy major and liquefied natural gas projectdeveloper Eni have witnessed the sail away from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates of two vessels that will comprise the African nation’s first floating LNG production venture.

The two vessels left Dubai at a ceremony attended by Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of the Congo, Maixent Raoul Ominga, Managing Director of state energy company Societe National des Petroles du Congo (SNPC) and Guido Brusco, Chief Operating Officer for Natural Resources for FLNG developer Eni.

Eni said that the “Tango” FLNG vessel that formerly operated in Argentina is now on its way to the West Coast of Africa along with the “Excalibur” floating storage unit (FSU).

“The milestone aligns with the timeline of the Congo LNG project, whose first phase will start-up in December 2023,” said Eni.

FLNG surge

When Congo FLNG starts it will be the third project operating in Africa after Cameroon FLNG, Mozambique FLNG and with other ventures being developed in nations like Nigeria.

Two more FLNG facilities are being developed in joint projects for Senegal and Mauritania in West Africa and involving UK major BP and Dallas, Texas-based Kosmos Energy.

The “Tango” FLNG production hull has a liquefaction capacity of around 1 billion cubic metres per annum of gas.

It will be moored about three kilometres offshore along with the “Excalibur” FSU upon their arrival in Congo territorial waters.

“The Congo LNG project leverages Marine XII natural gas resources and existing production facilities in a new, phased approach that will be allowed to reach approximately 4.5 Bcm a year of gas liquefaction capacity at plateau, as well as zero routine gas flaring,” Eni explained.

The Milan-based company added that a second FLNG vessel with a capacity of about 3.5 Bcm of gas is under construction and will be deployed in 2025.

“The project will help the Republic of the Congo meet its energy needs while seizing the opportunity to exploit surplus gas through LNG production, allowing the country to join the group of global exporters of LNG in record time,” stated Eni.

“According to the agreements recently signed, all LNG produced will be marketed by Eni,” the company added. 

Exmar NV, the supplier of floating liquefied natural gas import facilities and an FLNG production unit to the Netherlands and the Republic of Congo respectively, has issued clarification to a letter sent to shareholders on the voluntary public takeover bid launched by Saverex NV for Exmar and open for acceptance until September 15.

The moves over the takeover process begun in June 2023 and involving Saverex, the holding company of the family of Exmar Executive Chairman Nicolas Saverys, came as Exmar also reported its first-half earnings.

Exmar revenues jumped to $200.2 million in the first six months of 2023 compared with $57.1M in the same period of 2022.

Proft returns

The Antwerp, Belgium-based company’s net profits amounted to $2M versus a loss of $8.5M in last year’s first half.

In regard to its latest letter to shareholders, the company said this may have “created the impression with certain shareholders that they are under an obligation to sell” their shares.

“This certainly was not the company’s intention and we, therefore, ask you to disregard this Letter and we hereby rectify that each shareholder is free to either tender or not to tender their shares to Saverex,” explained the company

“In the event shareholders have already tendered their shares in this second acceptance period, they also have the right to retract their tender,” it added.

“Certain shareholders have allegedly been approached in the name of the company, to convince or induce them to tender their shares to Saverex. The company takes the opportunity to underline that it has not taken such initiative and it would not support any such actions,” it declared.

FLNG progress

In the earnings report, Exmar, said that the “FSRU Eemshaven LNG” chartered to an affiliate of Dutch utility Gasunie has been running steadily at 300 million standard cubic feet per day of capacity.

Exmar added that progress was being made on the Congo export project involving the conventional LNG carrier “Excalibur”, which is undergoing conversion to a floating storage unit (FSU).

The “Excalibur” will be used alongside the “Tango FLNG” production vessel in a project being developed by Italian oil and gas major Eni.

Exmar retains an extensive fleet of other vessels, including three Vary Large Gas Carriers, 17 mid-sized liquefied petroleum gas carriers, two newbuilds and 10 pressurised carriers.

“The three VLGCs continue under their current employment. The VLGC market continues to perform well and prospects for the remainder of 2023 are positive,” stated Exmar.

“In the Midsize Gas Carriers (MGC) market, 2022 was an eventful year for LPG and ammonia with increased freight and higher ton-mile, while 2023 has seen a correction with reduced ammonia shipping demand, while LPG trade remained robust,” the company added.

“Owners managed to keep MGC hire rates at good levels despite recent newbuilding deliveries,” Exmar said.

The Reganosa liquefied natural gas terminal plant at Mugardos in the northwest Spanish port of Ferrol said it received the first cargo delivered to Spain from the Cheniere Energy-operated Corpus Christi export plant in Texas for international commodities company Trafigura.