Italian contractor Saipem has secured an FPU conversion contract from compatriot energy firm Eni as part of the latter’s Congo FLNG project.
Eni Congo awarded the contract to Saipem for the conversion of the Scarabeo 5 semisubmersible drilling unit into a separation and boosting plant, or a floating production unit, according to a statement by Saipem.
The FPU is a semisubmersible production platform that receives the production fluids from wellheads riser platforms, separate the gas from liquids and boosts the gas in order to feed the nearby floating LNG (FLNG) unit, it said.
The contract, subsequent to an agreement signed early this year for the execution of preliminary engineering and procurement activities, includes the engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and commissioning of the FPU.
Saipem will install the unit offshore the coast of Congo, located northwest of the Djeno terminal, in a depth of about 35 meters.
The firm expects the commissioning offshore works and the start-up of the FPU to start in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Besides this contract, Saipem also secured a contract from BP for the Argos FPU.
Combined, these deals are worth around $700 million, the firm said.
Two floating LNG producers
The FPU conversion contract is part of Eni’s Congo LNG project, the country’s first natural gas liquefaction project, Saipem said.
The project is expected to reach an overall LNG production capacity of 3 million tons per year from 2025.
In August last year, Eni signed a deal to buy Exmar’s Tango FLNG and expects the unit to start production in 2023.
The floating LNG producer, delivered in 2017 by China’s Wison, has a storage capacity of 16,100 cbm as well as a liquefaction capacity of up to 0.6 million tons per year.
Wison is also building a larger FLNG for Saipem with a capacity of 2.4 mtpa.
The Chinese firm won this contract in December last year and officially started work on the project in January this year.