The Republic of Congo expects its Parliament to pass soon a new natural gas code that would spur foreign investments in the country on the western coast of central Africa, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, said on Wednesday.
Oil producer and exporter Congo, an OPEC member since 2018, wants to develop its natural gas resources, too, according to the minister.
“We are guided by a strong conviction: the future of Congo cannot rely solely on oil, it must also rely on gas,” Itoua said at an African energy conference in Cape Town, as carried by Reuters.
“This is why we have placed gas valorization at the very heart of our strategy,” the minister added.
The Republic of Congo has seen recent success in gas project development as Italy’s energy major Eni launched in 2022 Congo LNG, the first natural gas liquefaction (LNG) project in the country in the offshore Marine XII concession.
In August, the Nguya floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit departed from Shanghai bound for Congo, for Phase 2 of the Congo LNG project.
Eni says that work on the subsea infrastructure required to launch Phase 2 of the Congo LNG project is progressing on schedule, enabling mooring and start-up by the end of 2025.
The first floating unit at the project, Tango FLNG, began production in December 2023 and has already exported 12 cargoes. In the second phase of the project, the Nguya FLNG ship will be positioned offshore, supporting the activity of Tango FLNG and increasing the project’s overall liquefaction capacity. Tango FLNG will be joined by the Nguya FLNG by the end of the year, bringing the total capacity of the Congo LNG project to 3 million tons per annum (MTPA).
In another milestone for the Republic of Congo, the African country last month awarded TotalEnergies and its partners QatarEnergy and the national company SNPC the Nzombo offshore exploration permit. The consortium plans to spud one exploration well by the end of 2025.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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