Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) is eager to begin construction on a second floating platform for the production of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Rovuma Basin, off the northern coast of Mozambique, according to reports.

The floating platform will have an installed production capacity of 3.4 million tonnes, equal to the Coral Sul platform the company built for the area, which has been in operation since late 2022. Deputy chair Byoungsun Lee said SHI was working with its consortium partners, French multinational Technip FMC, Japanese engineering firm JGC, and Fluor, an American multinational engineering and construction firm.

With the operator expressing interest in a second platform for Area 4, SHI is awaiting only government approval before it begins construction. If that is granted shortly, as expected, SHI “can be thinking about beginning construction of the platform in the third quarter of 2024”.

Area 4 is operated by Mozambique Rovuma Venture (MRV), a joint venture between American multinational ExxonMobil, Italian energy company ENI and CNPC of China, which holds a 70 percent stake in the concession. The remaining 30 percent is evenly split between Korean oil company KOGAS, Portuguese company Galp and ENH, Mozambique’s state-owned hydrocarbon company.

Interest in a second platform is not new. Lead operator ENI expressed interest in expanding on the success of Coral Sul back in April of last year. The US$7 billion Coral Norte, planned for a site 10 kilometres from Coral Sul, will double the production capacity of Area 4. It will also dramatically increase revenue, for both the operators and the state.

While the neighbouring Area 1 project and onshore Afungi LNG plant, helmed by French multinational TotalEnergies, have faced repeated setbacks in relation to the ongoing Islamist insurgency in northern Cabo Delgado province, Area 4 has largely avoided such issues. Still, KOGAS pushed to establish more security in its recent meeting with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.