Italian Eni approved the investment for the first phase of the Coral South project, reported World Oil. The Coral discovery is in the deep waters of the Rovuma basin (Area 4), offshore Mozambique.

However, this is not the final investment decision (FID) on the project. The FID is pending the approval of all Area 4 partners, as well as finalizing the project financing, informed Natural Gas World.

The project involves the construction of six subsea wells connected to a floating LNG (FLNG) facility that will have a liquefaction capacity of over 3.3m  tons of LNG per year, the equivalent of 5bcm/y.

In October, Eni and its Area 4 partners signed an agreement with BP for the sale of the entire volume of LNG produced by the Coral South project, for a period of over twenty years. This was the first agreement ever signed in Mozambique for the sale of LNG produced in the country, and it was the first significant step towards the development of the 85Tc) of gas discovered in Area 4.

Eni is the operator of Area 4 with a 50% indirect interest – owned through Eni East Africa (EEA), which holds a 70% stake in Area 4. Galp Energia, South Korean state Kogas and Mozambique’s state Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) each own a 10% stake. CNPC owns a 20% indirect interest in Area 4 through Eni East Africa.