Saipem Completes Conversion of Rig to FPU for Eni’s Congo LNG Project
August 27, 2025
Saipem has completed the conversion of the Scarabeo 5 semi-submersible drilling rig into a floating production unit (FPU), which will be deployed at Eni’s Congo liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
The conversion of the Scarabeo 5 into an FPU, completed in less than two years, is a key milestone of the contract awarded to Saipem by Eni Congo in August 2023 as part of Eni's Congo LNG Project, the country's first natural gas liquefaction project.
Saipem’s activities entailed the engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and commissioning of the FPU to be installed offshore the coast of the Republic of Congo, northwest of the Djeno Terminal, at a depth of approximately 35 metres.
The Scarabeo 5, built in Italy in the early 1990s, is one of the best units of its generation, hence it was chosen as an asset for conversion into a floating gas treatment facility.
Once installed, it will serve as a control hub for the entire offshore development field of Eni's Congo LNG Project.
The refurbished FPU will head to Congo in the coming days, and will be used to send processed gas to the Nguya floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG).
Eni held the sail away ceremony for the Nguya FLNG unit earlier in the week in Shangai, which is set to depart for Congo LNG project in the Marine XII concession.
