African Floating LNG gets US$8 billion in funding

Standard Bank and shareholder the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have become the largest combined lenders to the Coral FLNG project off the coast of Mozambique, giving the project a reported US$8Bn in financing. 

Coral FLNG is the first project sanctioned for the development of gas resources discovered by Italian oil company Eni and its partners in the Rovuma Basin off Mozambique in the southern part of the Coral gas reservoir, by means of a floating LNG (FLNG) plant.

The US$8Bn Standard Bank and ICBC loan also involves global energy giants Petrochina, GALP, ENH and Kogas as investors (with their own project tranches) as well as Italy's Eni. 

Eni closed US$4.7Bn in project financing in mid-December. In March last year, Eni and ExxonMobil signed a sale and purchase agreement to enable ExxonMobil to acquire 25% interest in Area 4 offshore Mozambique where Eni is the operator. The remaining interests in Area 4 are held by CNODC (20%), Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos E.P. (ENH, 10%), Kogas (10%) and Galp Energia (10%).

Eni and its partners took a final investment decision (FID) on the 3.4M tonnes a year (mta) Coral FLNG scheme off Mozambique in June 2017. The project will be the first of this type to have as much as 60% of its cost funded on a project-finance basis, backed by 15 international banks and guaranteed by five export credit agencies.

A partnersnip between Eni and China National Petroleum Corporation financed a US$2.5Bn floating LNG (FLNG) newbuilding from Samsung Heavy Industries against the Coral FLNG project off Mozambique. The vessel will produce 3.3M tonnes a year, all of it contracted to BP under a 20-year offtake agreement.

(source O&G Links)

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