Report: ExxonMobil buys stake in Eni’s Mozambique LNG development

Italian oil and gas company Eni has reportedly sold a multi-billion dollar stake in its planned Mozambique LNG development to U.S.-based energy giant ExxonMobil.

Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources close to the matter, that the deal is completed but it will not be announced for several months due to ExxonMobil’s request.

According to the report, the deal could give ExxonMobil its desired operating stake in the onshore LNG export plant while Eni would retain control over Mozambique’s Area 4 gas fields feeding it.

The gas reserves already discovered by Eni in Area 4 in the offshore Rovuma basin are large enough to feed a giant land-based LNG export plant. Eni, that is the operator of the Area 4 with a 50 percent stake, has discovered about 85 trillion cubic feet of gas in the offshore block.

The Coral field will remain outside the scope of the deal with ExxonMobil, and Eni has earmarked LNG from the Phase I development of Coral to the UK-based energy giant BP, the report said.

LNG World News has contacted Eni regarding the stake sale. An Eni spokesperson declined to comment.

To remind, the Mozambique government in February approved the plan of development for Eni’s Coral FLNG project. The approval relates to the first phase of development of 5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Coral discovery, located in the Area 4 permit.

The plan of development, the very first one to be approved in the Rovuma Basin, foresees the drilling and completion of 6 subsea wells and the construction and installation of a floating LNG facility, with the capacity of around 3.4 MTPA.

LNG World News Staff