Italian energy services firm Saipem is due to resume drilling operations at the Coral Sul project offshore Mozambique after an eight-month stoppage related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Saipem 12000 vessel arrived in Pemba on January 5 and it will start drilling soon, according to Mozambique’s regulator Instituto Nacional de Petroleo (INP).
The Italian contractor started drilling in September 2019 as part of a deal with compatriot Eni but it halted operations in April 2020 because of the pandemic.
The drilling and completion activities include six subsea wells that will feed the Coral Sul (Coral South) FLNG currently under construction in South Korea. The wells will have an average depth of about 3000 metres.
As per the FLNG, Samsung Heavy Industries completed lifting the last topside module onboard the 3.4 mtpa LNG producer in November last year.
The unit will be 432 metres long and 66 metres wide and weigh about 220,000 tons.
Eni said in the last project update it still expected FLNG sail-away in 2021 and gas production start-up in Mozambique in 2022.
Eni Rovuma Basin operates the Coral Sul project on behalf of the Area 4 partners.
These include Mozambique Rovuma Venture, a venture owned by Eni, ExxonMobil and CNPC, Galp, Kogas and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos.
