Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi laid the foundation stone for the country’s first natural gas liquefaction facility on Tuesday.
The development, called Congo LNG, is expected to produce up to three million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually from 2025, the Italian global energy giant said in a press release on Tuesday.
The Marine XII oil and gas field project will allow exports mainly to Europe, Eni said.
It consists of two floating LNG plants in the Litchendjili and Nenè fields, both producing. The first plant will start production this year with a capacity of 0.6 million metric tons per annum (MTPA). The second will become operational in 2025 with a maximum output of 2.4 MTPA, according to the announcement.
Congo LNG “will contribute significantly to both the energy security and the industrial competitiveness of Italy and Europe,” commented Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi.
“This result speaks to the importance of long-term collaboration with our African partners at a time when important strategic decisions must be made regarding the future diversification of supply routes and energy mixes Europeans, in the direction of energy accessibility and availability and progressive decarbonisation”.
Italy and the European Union have been looking for alternatives to Russia as their main energy source historically in response to their war in Ukraine. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s visits to the continent this year have meant Italy is looking to Africa for energy imports. In Libya, during Meloni’s visit in January, Eni signed an 8 billion dollar investment to develop two gas fields to supply Libya and Europe, as the company announced on January 28.
In Congo-Brazzaville last week, he affirmed Rome’s commitment to “a non-predatory cooperation model, as set out in the ‘Mattei Plan for Africa,'” his office said in a statement on April 21, in reference to a situation that is still pending. – presented the plan for the continent named after the founder of Eni, Enrico Mattei.
Tuesday’s stone laying involves a project between Eni and Wison Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. which the Italian partner announced on December 22.
In Congo-Brazzaville, Eni said it “is the only company active in the development of its gas resources, which guarantees 70% of national electricity production through the Centrale Electrique du Congo”. The utility is powered by Marine XII, which Eni operates with a 65 percent stake.
Eni achieved its first exploration success in Marine XII in 2008 with the Litchendjili gas field, followed by Minsala and Nene.
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