The last of 13 topside modules has been lifted and installed aboard Eni's Mozambique-bound Coral-Sul FLNG facility, being built by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.

The lifting of the module marks the end of the onshore-modules fabrication campaign configuring the entire gas treatment and liquefaction plant

"The massive 70 thousand tons topside was lifted onto the hull one module at a time and is now complete. However, construction continues with integration and commissioning activities," Eni said.

According to Eni, the Coral Sul FLNG unit is expected to sail away in 2021, with gas production start-up expected in 2022.

"This is a great achievement for Area 4 Partners, in middle of all struggles caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and confirms our commitment to the successful development of the Coral South Project.” stated Roberto Dall’Omo, the General Manager of Eni Rovuma Basin.

Construction of the Coral-Sul FLNG hull and topside modules started in September 2019. The hull was launched in January 2020 and this was followed by the lifting of the first topside module in May 2020. Credit: EniAccording to Eni, the Coral-Sul FLNG is the world’s first newly-built deepwater floating liquefaction plant.

With a capacity of 3.4 million tons of liquefied gas per year, the FLNG unit will be located offshore Mozambique and used to produce gas from Coral offshore gas field in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin.

Eni is the operator of the Coral South Project on behalf of the Area 4 partners, namely Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV, an incorporated joint venture owned by Eni, ExxonMobil and CNPC), Galp, KOGAS and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P.  

It is based on six ultra-deepwater wells in the Coral Field, at a water depth of around 2,000 meters, feeding via a full flexible system the Coral-Sul FLNG. The Coral field has approximately 16 trillion cubic feet of gas in place and was discovered by Eni in May 2012.