Eni has announced that the sail away ceremony for the Nguya floating LNG (FLNG) unit has been held in Shanghai. The unit is set to significantly boost LNG production as part of the Congo LNG project in the Marine XII concession, offshore the Republic of Congo. The ceremony was attended by Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Congo, and Eni delegation led by Stefano Maione, Director of Development, Operations & Energy Efficiency.
The Nguya unit, 376 m long and 60 m wide, will be moored at a depth of 35 m and used for LNG production. Designed with advanced technologies to ensure a reduced carbon footprint, it stands as a benchmark in the industry. Conceived, designed, and built in only 33 months – from contract award to sail away – the FLNG sets a record for time-to-market in the entire sector. Moreover, its technical features allow it to process gas from multiple fields, making it suitable for the development of future fields as well.
Furthermore, the floating production and compression unit – formerly the Scarabeo 5 drilling rig – has been refurbished and will depart in the coming days. It will be used to send processed gas to the Nguya unit.
Work on the subsea infrastructure required to launch Phase 2 of the Congo LNG project is progressing on schedule, enabling mooring and start up by the end of 2025.
Tango FLNG (0.6 million tpy) began production in December 2023 and has already exported 12 cargoes. It will be joined by the Nguya FLNG (2.4 million tpy) by the end of the year, bringing the total capacity of the Congo LNG project to 3 million tpy.