Italian energy group Eni (ENI.MI) and the Republic of Congo on Tuesday launched a $5 billion gas liquefaction project that aims to reach production capacity of 3 million tons per year by 2025.
The development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity is part of Italy’s strategy to reduce dependence on Russia since invading Ukraine.
In August, Eni acquired a floating liquefaction plant for LNG production and export in Congo and intends to commission the plant in the second half of 2023.
It is part of Eni’s activities for a natural gas development project at Marine XII, which will supply international and domestic markets and meet Congo’s electricity needs.
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Congo’s Oil and Gas Minister Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua said the project would make the West African country an LNG exporter for the first time.
“This should place the Congo among the largest oil and gas producers in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said at an inauguration ceremony in Brazzaville, the capital.
Eni’s managing director for the country, Mirko Araldi, said the project is in line with the company’s goal of stopping routine gas flaring, which is said to be contributing to global warming.
Eni is the second largest oil company in the Republic of the Congo after France’s Total (TTEF.PA). It has been operating in the country for about 50 years and in that time has built a gas-fired power plant that supplies around 70% of the national electricity production.
