This photo taken on Oct. 2, 2025 shows representatives of the five partner companies signing agreements for the Coral North Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project in Maputo, Mozambique. The Coral North Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project in Mozambique reached its Final Investment Decision (FID) on Thursday, with a signing ceremony held in the capital, Maputo. The multi-billion-dollar project is jointly developed by Italy's Eni Group, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Mozambique's national oil company ENH, Korea Gas Corporation, and XRG, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.(Xinhua/Liu Jie)

MAPUTO, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Coral North Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project in Mozambique reached its Final Investment Decision (FID) on Thursday, with a signing ceremony held in the capital, Maputo.

The multi-billion-dollar project is jointly developed by Italy's Eni Group, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Mozambique's national oil company ENH, Korea Gas Corporation, and XRG, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Located in the ultra-deep waters off Cabo Delgado Province in northern Mozambique, within Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, Coral North is expected to be completed and operational by 2028. The project will employ a floating LNG facility with an annual production capacity of about 3.55 million tons. Once completed, together with the already-operational Coral South FLNG project, Mozambique's LNG output will rise to around seven million tons per year, consolidating its position as Africa's third-largest LNG producer.

Claudio Descalzi, chief executive officer of Eni, said that Coral North will be the world's second large-scale ultra-deepwater FLNG project, following Coral South.

Mozambican President Daniel Chapo said in his remarks that the Coral North project will involve an investment of over 7.2 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to generate about 23 billion dollars in fiscal revenue for Mozambique over the next 30 years.

"This is not only an engineering project, but also a source of hope for the Mozambican people," he said.

He Wenyuan, general manager of CNPC International Exploration and Development Co., said that the implementation of Coral North will further strengthen Mozambique's gas industry competitiveness, create more jobs and business opportunities locally, and contribute to sustainable regional economic and social development.

He added that CNPC will continue to work closely with partners to ensure high-quality construction of such projects, making active contributions to global energy security and the advancement of green energy.

Since its launch in late 2022, the Coral South FLNG project has exported more than 123 cargoes of LNG and 17 cargoes of condensate. It has also created about 1,400 direct and indirect jobs in Mozambique and awarded contracts worth about 800 million dollars to local small- and medium-sized enterprises. ■