A US contractor and a European player are being lined up by Italian major Eni to provide two separate liquefied natural gas export facilities for an innovative project offshore Congo-Brazzaville. Eni's Congolese development has been on the drawing board for at least seven years but is now moving ahead in fast-track mode, with start-up of an initial floating LNG solution targeted for 2023, followed by a jack-up-based LNG facility a year later. The two-phase project will exploit trillions of cubic feet of associated gas held in Eni's shallow-water Marine Ⅻ licence, with LNG production expected to plateau at about 2 million tonnes per annum. Upstream was told by two sources with direct knowledge of the tender process that New York-listed New Fortress Energy has been selected as the preferred bidder to provide the jack-up-based facility for the Marine Ⅻ project. While the US company had not replied to Upstream's requests for comment at press time, one source close to Eni and another source familiar with the project both confirmed that New Fortress is primed for the contract. As for the nearshore liquefaction solution, it is understood that Belgium-based Exmar is in a strong position to provide this FLNG vessel, although a deal has not been finalised. Two sources said Exmar has offered its Tango FLNG vessel, which has been without work since a contract was terminated early by Argentina's YPF in 2020. Exmar declined to comment when approached by Upstream, while a source close to Eni suggested a decision on the FLNG vessel provider had yet to be made.
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