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Africa’s leading FLNG operators and project developers highlighted the critical intersection of financing, regulatory frameworks and technical expertise in advancing the continent’s mega-scale LNG and FLNG projects during a panel at the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2024 conference.

One of the landmark projects on the continent is the $5-billion UTM FLNG facility, led by UTM Offshore in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. As Nigeria’s first floating LNG plant, the project aims to capture and process 2.8 million tons of flared gas annually from the Niger Delta for both local use and export.

“We are developing a brand-new project from scratch. We have completed the FEED [Front End Engineering Design] phase and are proceeding to the EPC [Engineering, Procurement and Construction] stage, looking to reach FID [Final Investment Decision] next year,” said Julius Rone, CEO of UTM Offshore. “The challenge with developing projects in Africa is financing – once you put the multi-billion dollars in financing together with the right EPC companies, the resource is there. We need to focus on how to aggregate the funding.”

In Mozambique, Eni successfully completed the Coral Sul FLNG project, positioning the country as a key player in the gas market. The operator is now developing a second LNG project, Coral Norte, using the same modular and flexible model to expedite time to market. According to Ivan Codognotto, Technical Director at Eni Rovuma Basin, FLNG provides a more flexible solution for gas monetization, enabling access to gas resources located far from the coastline, and avoids security challenges typically associated with traditional onshore LNG infrastructure.

 “Coral Sul is the first project able to unlock Mozambique’s offshore gas resources, which are in the range of 100 trillion cubic feet. It’s the first newbuild FLNG to be deployed in Africa, the first-ever ultra-deepwater FLNG project in Africa, and the first FLNG project to be developed through a project financing scheme,” said Codognotto. “In 2024, we achieved a milestone of over five million tons of LNG exported, which is proof of the technical and strategic success of this project.”

Golar LNG is another key player in Africa’s FLNG sector, widely recognized for its innovation through the Hilli Episeyo FLNG vessel operating offshore Cameroon, and representing Africa's first FLNG unit converted from an existing LNG carrier. In 2019, Golar LNG secured a contract with bp for the conversion of the Gimi FLNG vessel, which is currently undergoing commissioning and expected to begin production in early 2025. Most recently, the company signed a $1.6 billion EPC contract in September to repurpose and convert the Fuji LNG carrier into a FLNG unit.

 “We built the [Fuji] vessel in Q1 2024, which is now traveling to a shipyard in China. We will use the same liquefaction technology and hopefully start production by 2028,” said Federico Petersen, Chief Commercial Officer of Golar LNG.

In advancing capital-intensive, technically complex LNG and FLNG projects, the panel emphasized the importance of having the right resources, a supportive government framework and operators with the necessary technical expertise.

“In Cameroon, we had not only the resource, but the willingness of a good operator. A good asset, a good contract and a good overall framework – this is the holy trinity,” said Petersen.

“Nigeria has a lot of stranded gas offshore that’s either being reinjected or flared. The Federal Government has issued a lot of incentives for offshore gas development and encouraged investors to tap into the Petroleum Industry Act, which provides a lot of flexibility for the development of gas,” said Rone. “Gas is a transition for Africa – it’s the only way we can leapfrog. The government needs to create the enabling environment to support investors with quick decision-making processes.”