LNG

Côte d'Ivoire is continuing to benefit from the ramp-up of the Baleine oil and gas field as part of a world-class hub of oil, pipeline natural gas and LNG exports and imports being built out to improve economic prosperity in West Africa from Mauritania in the North to Angola in the South.

Italian major Eni said it had begun to introduce feed gas into the “Tango FLNG” floating production plant ahead of the shipping of the first cargo in a project located offshore the Republic of Congo in West Africa.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has signed an accord with Chinese shipyard Wison Heavy Industry for the construction of a floating liquefied natural gas production unit to be deployed offshore Nigeria.

Baker Hughes, the US energy technology company and LNG equipment supplier, has been awarded a major contract in the Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa where the Baleine project for offshore oil and associated gas is currently moving forward to maintain the country's status as an African energy hub.

Baker Hughes was chosen for the contract by Italian oil and gas company Eni and the African nation's state energy company, Société Nationale d'Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d'Ivoire (Petroci).

Eni and Petroci are initiating Africa’s first Scope 1 and 2 carbon-dioxide emissions reduction plan as part of the Baleine oil and gas field Phase 2 development.

The Baleine field, taking its name from the French word for “whale”, was discovered in 2021 as the largest commercial discovery in the country in the last 20 years and set to contribute substantially to boosting energy production in Côte d'Ivoire.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s mainly oil production has varied significantly over the past two decades as existing fields have become depleted, closed for maintenance or development works and as new discoveries have been made but have needed further investment.

Deep water trees

“This award, which includes eight deep water trees, three Aptara™ manifolds, the relevant subsea production control system, and flexible risers and jumpers, strengthens Baker Hughes’ presence in West Africa and unlocks considerable growth potential in the country,” explained the Houston, Texas-based company.

“Baker Hughes will deliver a configured-to-order product portfolio across subsea production and flexible pipe systems, designed for optimum cost effectiveness, installation and life-of-field value,” added the company.

Baker Hughes said that these deepwater trees and manifolds, supplemented with subsea production controls and flexible pipe systems, are aimed at providing efficiency and cost-effectiveness under demanding conditions.

“This collaboration between Baker Hughes and Eni is Africa’s first development project with clear Scope 1 and 2 carbon reduction goals and will deliver innovative technology that will enhance the energy security in Ivory Coast,” said Maria Claudia Borras, executive vice president for Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes.

“Ensuring that energy is locally available is an increasingly profound challenge, and we applaud the efforts of Eni and companies like it to shape an abundant energy future for Africa. We are proud of the confidence placed in us to accelerate the execution of this important project,” Borras added.

LNG orders

Baker Hughes is additionally a key player in the LNG equipment supply sector and its most recent contract award was in April 2023 to supply two main refrigerant compressors (MRCs) for the North Field South (NFS) LNG expansion project in Qatar.

The Ivorian Baleine project is offshore block CI-101 and is forecast to hold up to 2.0 billion barrels of oil in place and 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas located at water depth of 1,200 metres.

In addition to the CI-101 block, Eni owns stakes in four other blocks in the Ivorian deepwater.

They are CI-205, CI-501, CI-504 and CI-802, all with the same partner Petroci.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s regional neighbours to the north, Senegal and Mauritania, are currently developing floating LNG projects, while among its southern neighbours, Nigeria is an established world-scale LNG and oil exporting nation and Cameroon has a small FLNG project in operation.

April 27 (LNGJ) - The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Norwegian shipping company Golar LNG to deploy a floating liquefied natural gas production vessel offshore Nigeria. State-run NNPC said that the Golar LNG Chief Executive, Karl Fredrik Staubo, signed the accord in Abuja, the Nigerian federal capital.

   This would be Nigeria’s second FLNG project after one being developed by UTM Offshore. The private Nigerian company has signed a front-end engineering design agreement with Technip Energies and others for the production hull with 1.2 million tonnes per annum of capacity.

The Republic of the Congo has formally launched two floating liquefied natural gas production projects that may make the West African nation an LNG exporter by as early as this year as African nations assume leadership of the FLNG sector to monetize their resources backed by Western oil majors.

JGC Holdings Corp., the Japanese energy engineering company with current major liquefied natural gas project work in progress, reported a 30 percent jump in nine-month sales as the Yokohama-based company maintained a healthly backlog of contracts.

JGC said nine-month sales came to 416.6 billion yen ($3.17 billion) compared with 319.4Bln ($2.43Bln) in the period to the end of December 2021.

Among the contracts won by JGC was as head of a consortium with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries for the construction of a nearshore floating LNG project in Malaysia planned by national oil and gas company Petronas.

This facility will be the third floating LNG plant to be constructed for an offshore gas fields in Malaysia. It will have minimum production capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG and was scheduled for completion in 2027.

JGC’s main responsibilities will cover the engineering, procurement and commissioning work for the FLNG topside, the associated onshore facilities as well as the management of the overall project.

JGC’s consortium partner SHI would be responsible for the FLNG hull EPC work and the modular fabrication of the topside.

The company’s earnings statement showed operating profits rose to 25.3Bln ($185 million) versus 15.3Bln yen ($116M) in the period.

Net profits amounted to 22.5Bln yen ($171 million), down from 44.3Bln yen $337M) in the prior year nine-month period.

JGC’s contracts backlog was 1.58 trillion yen ($12.5 billion) at the end of December 2022.

LNG Canada

The company was also still working towards completion of the LNG Canada project at Kitimat in British Columbia being constructed by Shell and partners. JG's partner on the venture is Fluor Corp. of the US.

JGC was additionally involved in the successful completion of the Coral South floating LNG venture offshore Mozambique for Italian energy company Eni and partners.

FLNG is one of JGC’s speciality spheres and it has been retained along with Europe's Technip Energies for the front-end engineering and design for a similar project offshore Nigeria.

Other JGC outstanding energy industry contracts include the Basra Oil Refinery modernization, the construction of an oil-gas separation unit in Saudi Arabia as well as LNG import terminal work in Taiwan.

JGC Corp., the overseas engineering, procurement and construction business of Japan’s JGC Group, said it would head a consortium with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries for construction of a nearshore floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project in Malaysia planned by Petronas.

Nov 11 (LNGJ) - JGC Holdings Corp., with LNG contracts in Canada, Mozambique and Nigeria, reported a jump in first-half net profits as sales increased to 219.9 billion Japanese yen ($1.9Bln) from 199.4Bln yen ($1.7Bln) in the same six months of 2020, while forecasting an increase in LNG contracts in the next couple years. JGC’s profits in the period came to $48.4Bln yen versus 3.9Bln yen in the prior-year’s first half.

   JGC said outstanding LNG contracts were valued at 408Bln yen ($3.6Bln). These included LNG Canada in British Columbia and the Mozambique FLNG venture in southeast Africa. Other oil and gas sector contracts include a major oil refinery overhaul at Basra in Iraq. “Developments in large LNG projects are likely in fiscal 2022 and later,” said JGC.

Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has awarded a licence for a project to establish the West African nation’s first floating liquefied natural gas production plant and run by a Nigerian oil and gas company rather than an international energy major.