Senior representatives from the Italian energy company Eni, Belgium gas transportation specialist Exmar and the project partners celebrated on February 27 the successful start-up of LNG production and the first shipment of LNG from the Republic of the Congo.
The Congo LNG project features a liquefaction facility, the Tango FLNG, with a capacity of about 1 billion cubic meters per year (BCMA), moored alongside Exmar’s Excalibur Floating Storage Unit (FSU), using an innovative configuration called “split mooring” implemented here for the first time in a floating LNG terminal.
Exmar built and formerly owned the Tango FLNG with the company providing the Excalibur FSU on a long-term charter and the company will also be in charge of all terminal operations on the Congo LNG Project.
The Congo LNG project, sanctioned in December 2022, came on stream after just 1 year, in line with the initial timeline. This fast project completion was made possible in close corporation with Eni as partner and building upon Exmar’s experience within the floating infrastructure space.
The first LNG cargo is currently being loaded and will sail to Piombino’s regasification terminal, in Italy, in the coming days, as Eni mentions.
Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of Eni, said: “The first cargo of LNG from Congo is the result of the strong commitment of Eni and its partners and of the unwavering support of the Government of the Republic of the Congo. Eni and the local partners shared work forces, know-how and technologies, ensuring additional revenues to the country while contributing to Europe’s energy security.”
