French-Japanese duo wins FEED job for LNG project offshore Mozambique

Two engineering companies, Japan’s JGC Holdings Corporation and France’s Technip Energies, have emerged as winners of the front-end engineering design (FEED) tender launched by ExxonMobil on behalf of its partners from the Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The trio is developing a deepwater block and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the coast of Mozambique.

The contract award for the Area 4 block off the coast of Mozambique comes a month after the operator announced the tender, saying this would be the final step before taking the final investment decision (FID), which is expected to last around 16 months.

Farhan Mujib, Representative Director and President of JGC Corporation, said: “With the global focus on decarbonization and energy security, the JGC Group is accelerating the promotion of energy transition, and this project is firmly in line with the direction of our strategy. We are convinced this project of national significance will contribute to enhance economic and industrial growth in Mozambique and East Africa.”

The concession within the Rovuma supergiant gas basin entails the operational Coral Sul FLNG facility, which Technip delivered to Eni in January, the planned Coral North FLNG development, and the Rovuma LNG onshore facilities, with the last two both expected to be sanctioned in 2024/25.

MRV holds a 70% interest in the Area 4 concession, with three 10% interests held by partners KOGAS, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH), and, as of recently, ADNOC, after it signed an agreement to acquire Galp’s 10% interest in May. 

“By leveraging our expertise in modularization and electrified LNG, we are committed to support ExxonMobil and its partners towards final investment decision, as well as strengthening our presence in Mozambique to contribute to long-term economic growth and its ambition to become one of Africa’s leading LNG exporters,” noted Mario Tommaselli, Senior Vice-President (SVP) Gas and Low Carbon Energies of Technip Energies. 

The LNG facility will feature an LNG plant with a total production capacity of 18 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), comprising 12 trains of 1.5 mtpa. According to Eni, the project will be the key to developing a series of large gas fields discovered in the Rovuma basin.

The plant design is set to feature electric-driven LNG trains instead of gas turbines, thus emitting fewer greenhouse gases (GHG) than conventional projects of its kind. After liquefaction, the extracted gas will be exported to global markets. 

Another LNG project JGC is working on – an export terminal in Kitimat, Canada – recently experienced a “pivotal step” as the first introduction of natural gas in the facility was announced, followed by low-level flaring that was to take place over several weeks. This brings the start of operation closer to reality, with first shipments of LNG produced at the facility expected by the middle of 2025.