On August 27, CIMC Raffles held the delivery ceremony for the Congo LNG Floating Production Unit (FPU) “Scarabeo 5” in Yantai. This represents another cutting-edge practice by the company in the green energy sector, marking a positive breakthrough in its “oil-to-gas” strategy.
As the project contractor, CIMC Raffles fully demonstrated its comprehensive capability to provide customers with a “one-stop solution.” The end-user of this project is the international energy giant ENI Group, with the Italian offshore leader Saipem as the main contractor. After delivery, it will serve in the Néné Marine area off the coast of West Africa’s Congo, processing natural gas from the Néné, Minsala, and Nkala wellhead platforms. The processed natural gas will be transported via pipeline to the Marine XII FLNG facility for liquefaction, while crude oil and associated resources will be centrally allocated through the Kitina processing center.
The “Scarabeo 5” FPU is the first of its kind globally, converted from a semi-submersible drilling platform. The original vessel was a fourth-generation semi-submersible drilling platform, measuring 111.64 meters in length, 68.8 meters in width, and 37.5 meters in depth, with a maximum operating water depth of 2,000 meters and a maximum drilling depth of 9,000 meters. The main conversion work involved removing drilling system-related equipment and structures, adding new oil and gas processing and pressurization modules, and installing a lower hull floating structure to transform it into an offshore oil and gas production platform. After delivery, the platform will be used in oil and gas fields off the coast of Congo in West Africa.
The “Scarabeo 5” FPU module has a dry weight of 13,000 tons, is equipped with 3+1 dual-fuel main engines with a total installed power of 13.5 megawatts, and has the capacity to process 12.5 million standard cubic meters of natural gas and 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The project adopted methods such as “modular construction,” achieving the efficient development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from marginal gas fields with industry-leading timelines and cost-effectiveness. This provides a new approach for the development of small to medium-sized and marginal gas fields, offering significant demonstration and reference value for the efficient utilization of global LNG resources, particularly in Africa.
It is worth mentioning that CIMC Raffles achieved an innovative whole-vessel onshore construction and skid-launch of the semi-submersible platform (weighing 25,800 tons) for this project, equivalent to starting dock construction four months ahead of schedule, which was a key measure for the project’s efficient progress. This process breakthrough not only significantly shortened the construction cycle but also highlighted the company’s exceptional capabilities in the independent design and project management of high-end offshore equipment.
Wang Jianzhong, CEO and President of CIMC Raffles Group, stated in his ceremony speech: “This project is our shared pride. CIMC Raffles always upholds the corporate culture of ‘delivering well and building ironclad partnerships,’ and through lean management and continuous innovation, we continue to deepen strategic mutual trust with our partners.”
Previously, CIMC Raffles has successfully collaborated with Saipem on multiple projects, including the pipelay vessel “Castorone,” the construction of the sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling platform “Scarabeo 9,” and the leasing of jack-up drilling platforms. The company has also achieved fruitful results with ENI in areas such as FPSO topside modules and front-end design. This delivery not only consolidates mutual trust but also lays a solid foundation for CIMC Raffles to expand into the international clean energy market and provide full-lifecycle value-added services.
Fabrizio Botta, Chief Operating Officer of Saipem, noted in his ceremony speech that CIMC Raffles completed the work from steel cutting to module integration in just 13 months, which is an unparalleled achievement, and Saipem will continue to engage in in-depth cooperation with CIMC Raffles as always.
In the future, CIMC Raffles will continue to drive forward with innovation and responsibility as core principles, contributing to global clean energy development and the low-carbon transition.
