Eni plans to begin drilling up to six development wells offshore Mozambique in November, targeting first LNG production in 2028, according to reporting from African Economy Inc. The Italian major's drilling campaign marks a concrete operational step forward for a project that has faced prolonged delays tied to security conditions in Cabo Delgado province and broader financing challenges across the Mozambique LNG landscape.
The November spud date signals that Eni is pressing ahead with its Coral South floating LNG development or associated offshore work with sufficient confidence to commit to a multi-well campaign. Drilling up to six development wells represents a significant capital commitment and suggests the project's subsurface and surface engineering is sufficiently mature to move from appraisal toward production-readiness. A 2028 production target gives the project roughly three years of execution runway from the current drilling start, a timeline that will drive procurement and contracting activity across multiple service segments in the near term.
Mozambique holds some of the largest gas discoveries made globally in the past two decades, and Eni's offshore block has been among the more operationally advanced given the Coral Sul FLNG vessel, which delivered its first cargo in 2022. The new development drilling campaign appears aimed at sustaining or expanding the resource base supporting that infrastructure, or at advancing a next phase of development toward the 2028 milestone cited by the company. The article does not specify water depths, block designations, or the identity of the drilling contractor engaged for the campaign.
The 2028 LNG start target places this project on a timeline that is commercially significant for offtakers, financiers, and the Mozambican government, which depends heavily on hydrocarbon revenues. Progress on Eni's project also carries signalling value for the broader Mozambique LNG sector, where TotalEnergies' onshore Mozambique LNG project at Afungi remains suspended following the 2021 force majeure declaration. Eni's continued offshore execution distinguishes the two projects and reinforces the relative resilience of the floating LNG model in the current Mozambican operating environment.
For service companies tracking Mozambique, the multi-well drilling campaign and a defined 2028 production target represent the clearest procurement trigger the country's offshore sector has generated in some time. Well services, drilling equipment, subsea installation, and FLNG support services are all potential demand areas as the project progresses through its development schedule.