By Christie U. Omonigho
- The Congo LNG project is commercial production driven
- Piloted as core component of Eni’s strategy to grow its presence in the global gas and LNG market through cost-competitive projects in diversified geographies.
Energy Window International (Media) – The President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou N’Guesso, and Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, were in a ceremony in Pointe-Noire to mark the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Nguya FLNG floating facility, which also signaled the start-up of gas exports from Phase 2 of the Congo LNG project. This according to Eni in its email statement to Energy Window International (Media) represents a further step toward its target of expanding its LNG portfolio to 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2030, leveraging the flexibility, competitiveness and geographical diversification of its equity projects, and is a key milestone in building a leading position in the global LNG market.
Eni said that with this Phase 2, the Congo LNG project would reach a total liquefaction capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG, equivalent to 4.5 billion cubic metres of gas per year, leveraging gas resources from the Nené and Litchendjili fields in the offshore Marine XII license.
Claudio Descalzi said: “Today we reach a very important milestone thanks to the relationship of trust built with the country’s institutions and local communities. We have been the only company to invest in gas to develop the domestic market and to reduce routine flaring. This decision, taken more than 20 years ago, led us to discover enough volumes to enable export as well. Phase II of the Congo LNG project was delivered in record time compared with industry averages, increasing gas availability on international markets and contributing to Italian and European energy security, while at the same time generating concrete benefits for the local economy”.
Congo LNG Eni said has just highlighted the company’s ability to transform gas resources into strategic value for the country and for international markets, through a cost-competitive project with strong environmental performance. It said that the Phase 1 of the project, launched with the Tango FLNG liquefaction unit, reached start-up in December 2023, just over one year after the project definition. Phase 2 start-up, in turn, comes only 35 months after construction of the Nguya FLNG unit began, setting a new international industry benchmark in terms of execution speed and efficiency.
Eni said it has been present in the Republic of the Congo since 1968. With equity production of approximately 70 kboed in 2025, expected to rise to 110 kboed in 2026, Adding that it is currently the country’s leading producer of associated and non-associated gas. It said it supplies gas to the Congo Power Plant, which provides around 70% of the country’s electricity generation capacity, and contributes to the strengthening of the high-voltage transmission network. It also said that it is active in initiatives supporting the energy transition, such as the agri-feedstock project, which integrates the country into the biofuels value chain and represents a development lever for the agro-industrial sector.