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Dec 12, 2023

bp begins shipping LNG from Mozambique’s first LNG project and first FLNG platform

bp has successfully loaded the first LNG cargo from Mozambique’s offshore Coral

bp has successfully loaded the first LNG cargo from Mozambique's offshore Coral Sul FLNG (floating liquefied natural gas) facility, the country's first LNG project and first floating LNG facility deployed in the ultra-deep waters of the African continent. FLNG vessels are floating LNG production, storage and offloading units.

The Coral field, discovered in May 2012, is located within Area 4 and contains approximately 450 billion cubic meters (16 TCF) of gas in place. The field is located approximately 80km off the coast of the Palma bay in the northern province of Cabo Delgado at a water depth of more than 2,000m.

Under its long-term contract, bp will purchase 100% of LNG output from Coral Sul FLNG which has the capacity to produce up to of 3.4 million tonnes of LNG per year.

bp continues to look for opportunities across the gas value chain, as it sees LNG as an essential part of the energy transition and its own pivot to becoming an integrated energy company. As bp aims for an LNG portfolio of 30 million tonnes by 2030, the new Mozambique supply source expands bp's flexible, high-quality LNG portfolio and further enhances the company's capability to deliver LNG to markets globally.

The start of production at the facility comes at an important moment, as LNG plays a key role supporting energy security. As the demand for LNG is expected to continue growing globally, bp continues to diversify its portfolio of LNG sources and develop innovative solutions for customers.

In October 2016, bp signed a long-term offtake contract for the purchase of LNG for more than 20 years with the Coral sellers comprising Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A. (a joint venture owned by Eni, ExxonMobil and CNPC), GALP, KOGAS and ENH (Mozambique state entity). Eni is the Delegated Operator of the Coral South project.

Coral Sul. 432 meters long and 66 meters wide, the Coral Sul FLNG weighs a total of approximately 220 thousand tons, with an eight-storey living module that can accommodate up to 350 people. It is anchored at a depth of around two thousand meters, with the help of 20 mooring lines weighing a total of 9 thousand tons.

Coral Sul was developed with an approach based on energy optimization, based on a systematic analysis of efficiency. Its characteristics include zero flaring during normal operations, the use of thermal efficient aero-derivative gas turbines for refrigerant compressors and generation, the use of Dry Low NOx technology to reduce NOx emission and waste heat recovery systems for the process.

Starting from the design phase, due to a systematic analysis of energy efficiency, solutions to minimize CO2 emissions were adopted, for example by means of gas turbines that have reduced emissions in comparison to similar ones, variable-speed electric engines, low-loss, high-voltage electric transformers, maximized system waste heat recovery (WHR) efficiency, boiler exhaust WHR, high-efficiency gas treatment.

These technologies integrate and they are aimed at decreasing the energy used to liquefy the gas and minimizing the impact on the environment, which places Eni's FLNG ship above the benchmark in its sector in terms of energy efficiency.

Overall, Coral Sul FLNG's energy consumption is lower than the industry average: 256 kWh per tonne of LNG produced instead of 275/400 kwh/ton of such units in operation today.

Posted on 15 November 2022 in Africa, Fuels, LNG, Market Background, Natural Gas, Ports and Marine | Permalink | Comments (0)