Belgium’s Exmar has struck a deal with Italian energy major Eni worth up to $694m to sell its 2017-built floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel Tango for deployment in the Republic of Congo, as part of the activities of the natural gas development project in the Marine XII block.
for deployment in the Republic of Congo, as part of the activities of the natural gas development project in the Marine XII block.The Liberia-flagged unit has a storage capacity of 16,100 cu m of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and a liquefaction capacity of up to 0.6m tons per year.
The barge-based plant will begin its activity in Congo in the second half of 2023, following the completion of mooring and connection works necessary to tie with the Marine XII network and infrastructure. LNG production from Marine XII is expected to begin in 2023, and when fully operational it will provide volumes in excess of 3m tons per year.
The Nicolas Saverys-led company said the unit should be made available to Eni in the second half of August this year. Exmar will earn between $572m and $694m depending on the actual performance of the Tango FLNG during the first six months on site.
Exmar also agreed a 10-year charter with Eni for a floating storage unit (FSU) as part of the project. The unit will be based on a converted LNG carrier. The Antwerp-based shipowner will provide operations and maintenance services for both Tango FLNG and the FSU and engineering services for the project under separate contracts.
Earlier this year, Eni also inked a deal with New Fortress Energy to use one of its jackup-based LNG concept units for the Congo project.
