Coral South was the first project approved by our Area 4 partners for developing gas resources discovered in the Rovuma Basin, off Mozambique’s coast. The project involves producing and selling gas from the southern part of the Coral field, using a floating plant for liquefying natural gas (LNG) with a capacity of 3.4 million tonnes. In 2016, we signed an agreement to sell 100 per cent of LNG production to British Petroleum (BP), and on 1 June 2017, we embarked on the start-up phase of the project, just three years after drilling the last test well. The liquefied gas is sold by us and other Area 4 concessionaires (including CNPC, Galp, Kogas, the Mozambican state company ENH and Exxon Mobil through its operator Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A.) to BP, under a 20-year contract with an optional 10-year extension. 

We regard safety at work as a core value – one we share with employees, contractors and local communities. That is why we do everything we can to avoid accidents, using organisational models to assess and manage risks, implementing training, developing expertise and promoting a culture of safety.

A floating unit for liquefying and exporting gas – and a real technological jewel – Coral Sul FLNG will be the first such on the African continent and the third in the world. Coral Sul FLNG will be 432 m long and 66 m wide, and weigh about 220,000 tonnes overall. The accommodation module will have eight floors with room for 350 people. It will be anchored about 2,000 m deep, with the help of 20 lines weighing 9,000 tonnes combined. Construction of the main components began in 2018. In March of that year, the tower for anchoring the unit was completed and in September, the hull – which is made up of 24 modules, containing storage tanks for the LNG – and part of the treatment plants were finished. In November, the topside (made up of 12 modules for treating gas and producing LNG) and the accommodation module were finished. Coral Sul will have a capacity of about 3.4 million tonnes per year of LNG, fed by six subsea wells, and start-up is expected in 2022. Construction is taking place in seven working centres around the world and overall progress on the project is expected to be more than 60 per cent complete by the end of 2019 – the result of 10 million hours of work. In September 2019, we began drilling and completing six subsea wells for feeding the liquefaction units. They will have an average depth of about 3,000 m and be drilled about 2,000 m under water. 

The Coral South project involves us in local development, far wider than just the oil and gas sector. We have provided specialist training for more than 800 Mozambican workers, who will be employed in the project's operational phase. We are also committed to a huge programme of work for local communities, to improve their access to basic services such as education, clean water and health care, and support long-term, diversified, sustainable socio-economic growth.

Eni has never conducted oil and gas exploration and development activities within the boundaries of natural sites included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In May 2019, we formally committed never to do so and officially instated a biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) policy as part of our transformation journey. We are committed to long-term investment – looking beyond short-term profit to find ways to help create a more sustainable planet – as recognised in our new company mission, which is in turn inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.