Eni Rovuma Basin is seeking partners for the construction, in Mozambique, of an agro-industrial complex for the extraction of bio-oil from different agricultural inputs and a plant for the production of ecological charcoal, as a by-product.
The Italian multinational recently launched an international public tender to hire companies to provide engineering, acquisition, transport, construction, installation, commissioning, start-up and performance testing services for the plants.
In a note consulted by Noticias and published yesterday, 24 January, Eni does not quantify the costs involved. However, it said that the oil extraction plant should be built this year whilst the green coal plant will only be concluded in 2024.
Present in Mozambique since 2006, between 2011 and 2014 Eni discovered huge natural gas resources in the Rovuma Basin, in the Coral, Mamba Complex and Agulha reservoirs, with around 2,400 billion cubic metres of gas.
In March last year, Italy’s Eni and the Mozambican government signed an agreement to develop a biofuels project, using raw material produced by small-scale domestic farmers.
Official figures show that a total of 400,000 tonnes of oilseed crops are produced each year in Mozambique, particularly sesame, peanuts, soy, cotton, castor beans and sunflower seeds, a potential that the Italian multinational intends to make profitable and which follows a meeting of Eni’s CEO, Claudio Descalzi, with the Mozambican government last November, in which several agricultural projects for biofuel production were discussed.
The agreement now signed establishes a joint working platform focused on cooperation and development of agricultural projects, with a greater focus on areas not considered competitive with food production, and taking into consideration the preservation of forests and natural ecosystems. The parties did not, however, provide details about the project’s costs and timetable, limiting themselves to informing that the first phase will be dedicated to a feasibility study.