Italy’s Eni is expected to deliver soon the first liquefied natural gas cargo produced at its Tango floating LNG facility moored in Congolese waters to Italy’s Piombino FSRU-based terminal, according to shipping data.
Eni said on February 27 that it was loading the first LNG cargo in the Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, and that it will deliver the shipment to Snam’s Piombino FSRU-based terminal.
The 2010-built 155,000-cbm LNG carrier, GasLog Savannah, left Pointe Noire early March and was on Wednesday located in the Alboran Sea off Spain and heading towards Italy, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue shows.
However, the LNG carrier changed course and was anchored offshore Gibraltar on Thursday. The data shows that the vessel is expected in Piombino on April 6.
GasLog Savannah appears to be partially loaded.
LNG Prime contacted Eni to comment on the arrival of the LNG carrier in Piombino but we did not receive a reply by the time this article was published.
Tango FLNG
Eni introduced the first gas in December 2023 into its Tango FLNG facility. Prior to that, the unit arrived in Congo from Dubai.
The Italian firm purchased the 144 meters long Tango FLNG from Belgium’s Exmar and it also chartered the 2002-built 138,000-cbm steam turbine LNG carrier, Excalibur, to serve as an FSU for the project.
Moreover, the floating LNG producer, delivered in 2017 by China’s Wison, has a liquefaction capacity of about 1 billion cubic meters per year of gas, or 0.6 mtpa, and a storage capacity of 16,100 cbm.
Eni said the FLNG project, situated within the Marine XII permit, will achieve a plateau gas liquefaction capacity of about 4.5 billion cubic meters per annum and will mark zero flaring from operated activities in country.
Second unit
Also, a second FLNG vessel with a capacity of about 3.5 bcm per year of gas, or 2.4 mtpa, is under construction in China and is expected to begin production in 2025.
Wison Offshore & Marine won a contract from Eni in December 2022 to build the 380 meters long FLNG. The unit will be able to store over 180,000 cubic meters of LNG.
The volumes produced from the FLNG project will be marketed by Eni, strengthening and expanding the company’s LNG portfolio.
(Article updated on March 14 to say that the vessel is now expected in Piombino on April 6.)