Eni has been granted the approval of the Plan of Development (PDO) for the Coral discovery, located offshore Mozambique.

The approval has been granted by the Government of Mozambique’s Council of Ministers.

The approval relates to the first phase of development of 5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Coral discovery, located in the Area 4 permit. The discovery is located in water more than 2000 meters deep and approximately 80 kilometers offshore of the Palma bay in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

It is estimated to contain around 16 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas in place, wholly located in Area 4.

According to Eni, the Plan of Development, the first one to be approved in the Rovuma Basin, foresees the drilling and completion of six subsea wells and the construction and installation of a floating LNG facility, with the capacity of around 3.4 MTPA.

“Today’s approval of the Coral Plan of Development is a historical milestone for the development of our discovery of 85 TCF of gas in the Rovuma Basin. It is a fundamental step to progress toward the Final Investment Decision of our project which envisages the installation of the first newly built Floating LNG facility in Africa and one of the first in the world. We are proud of Eni’s partnership with Mozambique, a key country in the company’s strategies” Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi said.

Eni is the operator of Area 4 with a 50% indirect interest, owned through Eni East Africa (EEA), which holds a 70% stake of Area 4. The other Concessionaires are Galp Energia, KOGAS and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) with a 10% stake each. CNPC owns a 20% indirect interest in Area 4 through Eni East Africa.