Eni and partners to invest in Angola’s first non-associated gas project

Italy’s Eni together with partners Chevron, Sonangol, BP, and TotalEnergies have completed negotiations to start up the New Gas Consortium in Angola and reached an investment decision for the development of the country’s first non-associated gas project.

Eni and its partners in the New Gas Consortium (NGC), together with Angola’s National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels ANPG, announced that the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the development of the Quiluma and Maboqueiro (Q&M) fields has now been taken by the consortium.

The New Gas Consortium partners encompass Eni (25.6 per cent, operator), Chevron affiliate CABGOC (31 per cent), Sonangol P&P (19.8 per cent), BP (11.8 per cent), and TotalEnergies (11.8 per cent).

As explained by Eni in a statement on Wednesday, the project includes two offshore wellhead platforms, an onshore gas processing plant and a connection to the Angola LNG plant for the marketing of condensates and gas via LNG cargoes. Project execution activities will start in 2022 with a first gas planned in 2026 and an expected production of 330 mmscf/day at a plateau (approximately 4 billion cubic meters/year).

The sanctioning of the Q&M Project is an important milestone toward sustaining a reliable supply of gas to the Angola LNG plant.

The Italian company noted that the support provided by Angola’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, as well as all the Ministries and the National Concessionaire (ANPG), has been essential in unlocking this new phase of the Angolan offshore gas development. In this regard, the establishment of a legal and fiscal regime applicable to the upstream activities and sale of natural gas in Angola was a key enabler for the project.

Eni holds a 13.6 per cent interest in Angola LNG, together with Chevron affiliate CABGOC (36.4 per cent), Sonangol (22.8 per cent), BP (13.6 per cent), and TotalEnergies (13.6 per cent). The plant is located in Soyo, Province of Zaire and has a treatment capacity of approximately 353 bcf a year of feed gas and a liquefaction capacity of 5.2 mmtonnes a year of LNG.

In March 2022, Eni signed an agreement with BP to form a joint venture company called Azule Energy, combining both companies’ businesses in Angola. The operatorship of the Q&M Project will be guaranteed by Azule Energy after the completion of the transaction.