EL7.AI
CommoditiesMedium•2 November 2026•
4 min read

Coral Norte Drilling Campaign in Mozambique Targets 6 Wells Over 270 Days

Key Facts

1The scheduled Coral Norte drilling campaign starts on November 1, 2026, lasts about 270 days and includes up to 6 wells.
2The SAIPEM 12000 arrived in Cabo Delgado on October 25 to carry out the well campaign.
3Coral Norte's planned liquefaction capacity is 3.6 million tons a year.
4Coral Norte is planned to begin production in 2028, while Coral Sul has been operating since 2022.
5ExxonMobil agreed to raise its operating stake in the Rovuma LNG project to 50%.

Mozambique is preparing to begin the drilling and completion campaign for the Coral Norte FLNG project in the Rovuma Basin, scheduled for November 1, 2026, with an estimated duration of 270 days, according to the National Petroleum Institute. The plan includes up to 6 development wells, with 4 in the initial phase and two in a later phase. The institute said the SAIPEM 12000 drillship arrived in Cabo Delgado province on October 25 to carry out the campaign. The institute did not announce that drilling operations had already begun; it gave a scheduled start date. The activity concerns Coral Norte, not the Rovuma LNG project, which is the subject of separate developments involving ExxonMobil.

Before an operating license is issued, a multi-agency government inspection committee began an audit of the vessel on October 27, according to the National Petroleum Institute. The assessment covers technical and operational matters, occupational health and safety, and environmental protection. The audit comes ahead of the scheduled campaign date and covers the vessel's readiness and compliance with requirements before it enters service. The committee includes the National Petroleum Institute and the oil regulator, according to the statement. The announced schedule places the vessel's arrival and inspection, followed by drilling, among the campaign's preparation stages.

Coral Norte is based on an offshore project approved by the Council of Ministers in April 2025 under Decree No. 9/2025, issued on April 11, according to the institute. The floating liquefaction unit was under construction in South Korea when its update was published, with overall progress at 72%. The unit's planned liquefaction capacity is 3.6 million tons a year, according to Eni. The new wells are expected to supply gas to the unit, linking the ongoing drilling work on the project schedule to offshore field development and liquefaction infrastructure. The progress figure reported at the time provides an indication of the unit's construction progress alongside preparations for the wells.

Mozambique plans to begin first gas production from Coral Norte in 2028, with the project operating alongside Coral Sul, which entered commercial operations in 2022, according to the National Petroleum Institute. Eni has said the combined capacity of Coral Norte and Coral South will lift Mozambique's LNG production to more than 7 million tons a year once the new unit is operational. This means the announced increase is tied to the two projects operating together, while the company has set Coral Norte's capacity alone at 3.6 million tons a year. Coral South began production in 2022, according to Eni. In October 2026, the company said Coral South had delivered more than 135 LNG cargoes to the market since production began.

The background to gas development in the Rovuma Basin dates to discoveries that Eni said were made between 2011 and 2014 in the Coral, Mamba and Agulha reservoirs. The company estimated the gas in these reservoirs at about 2,400 billion cubic meters. Coral South began converting part of these resources into exports after starting production in 2022, while Coral Norte aims to add another floating liquefaction unit. The company's figures for the two projects set a target of more than 7 million tons a year for Mozambique's LNG production once Coral Norte is operational. These figures remain tied to the projects' targeted operating phase, while the upcoming campaign is still dedicated to drilling and completing the wells.

In a separate development, ExxonMobil announced on October 30 an agreement to raise its operating stake in the Rovuma LNG project to 50%, and said it already operates the project. The agreement concerns a different project from Coral Norte, which includes Eni and its partners CNPC, ENH, KOGAS and XRG, according to information provided about the project. The target of reaching a final investment decision in 2026 also applies to Rovuma LNG, not Coral Norte, for which a final investment decision was made in 2025. This comes as Coral Norte prepares for a scheduled drilling campaign lasting about 270 days. The project's next announced operational milestone is first gas production in 2028.