A contractual disagreement may emerge between Italian energy major Eni and Belgian contractor Exmar over bonus payments linked to the Tango floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility, deployed on Eni’s Marine XII block offshore Congo.
Exmar claims it is entitled to a bonus of up to $44 million, asserting that Tango FLNG’s LNG production rates during its initial months of operation exceeded the guaranteed levels. However, Eni has pushed back, stating that the conditions for such an adjustment “are yet to be assessed” under the contract terms.
Eni acquired the Tango FLNG facility in August 2022 by purchasing Export LNG Ltd from Exmar. According to Exmar, the sale agreement included a price adjustment clause, allowing for either a bonus of up to $44 million or a negative correction of $78 million, depending on performance levels.
The Tango FLNG, built in 2017, has an LNG production capacity of 600,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) and has been operational since late 2023. It forms part of Eni’s Congo LNG project, which aims to achieve 3.5 million tpa once a second FLNG unit, Nguya, comes online later this year.
With Eni marketing all LNG from the project, primarily for European customers, the company has also committed to achieving zero routine gas flaring in its operations.
