Exxon in Talks to Buy Stake in Eni's Area 4 Gas Field in Mozambique

Exxon Mobil is holding discussions to buy around 15 percent stake in Eni’s Area 4 gas field in Mozambique, sources have told news agency Reuters.

Eni is the operator of Area 4 with a 50 percent indirect interest, owned through Eni East Africa (EEA), which holds a 70 percent stake of Area 4. The other partners are Galp Energia, KOGAS and Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos (ENH) with a 10 percent stake each. CNPC owns a 20 percent indirect interest in Area 4 through Eni East Africa.

The Italian firm has earlier indicated that it aimed to sell around 15 percent of the field.

Two sources said Exxon was in talks to buy a stake of that size, one of whom said Eni was also negotiating with other firms, Reuters reported.

A banking source familiar with the matter said Exxon was interested in buying Eni's whole 50 percent stake, while a fourth source said Exxon was looking at unspecified stakes in all Eni holdings up for sale, also including assets in Egypt and elsewhere in Africa.

Earlier this year, Eni received Mozambican government’s nod for the Coral FLNG project.

The company said the approval relates to the first phase of development of 5 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Coral discovery, located in the Area 4 permit. The giant discovery, made in May 2012 and outlined in 2013, proved the existence of a high quality field of Eocenic age with excellent productivity. It is estimated to contain around 16 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas in place, wholly located in Area 4.

The ‘Plan of Development’, the very first one to be approved in the Rovuma Basin, foresees the drilling and completion of 6 subsea wells and the construction and installation of a technologically advanced state-of-the-art Floating LNG facility, the capacity of which will be around 3.4 MTPA.