Eni secures FLNG asset for works in Republic of Congo

Eni has acquired an FLNG vessel from maritime asset holder Exmar Group for work on the offshore Marine XII block in Republic of Congo, the Italian super-major announced on Friday.

Instead of leasing the vessel as previously planned, Eni will acquire Exmar Group’s subsidiary Export LNG that owns the asset for between USD 572 million and USD 694 million depending on the first six months of performance.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of August 2022.

The Tango FLNG will begin production in H2 2023 following mooring and connection works to existing infrastructure.

The vessel was built in 2017 and has a capacity of 3 mcm (10 mcf) of gas per day and 600,000 tonnes of LNG per year. It was previously chartered to produce LNG from the Vaca Muerta play in Argentina on a 10-year contract, which fell through.

The Marine XII project is expected to produce more than 3 million tonnes of LNG per year when fully operational in 2023.

Exmar Group has also agreed to a 10-year charter of an FSU based on the conversion of an LNG carrier for the project. Additionally, the company will provide operations and maintenance services for the Tango FLNG and FSU and engineering services under separate contracts.