On Tuesday, the Congolese authorities and the Italian hydrocarbon group Eni launched the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) near Pointe-Noire (southern Congo), largely destined for export, according to an AFP journalist.

At the Litchendjili site, near the economic and oil capital of Congo-Brazzaville, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, accompanied by Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, opened a valve, symbolizing the start of production.

"Today we're celebrating the start of production" and "the first export cargo of liquefied gas", Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons, told AFP.

According to him, production this year will be 600,000 tonnes, rising to 3 million tonnes a year by 2025.

"We wanted the project with the contractor (Eni) to go ahead quickly, because there is a strong international demand for gas," stressed the Minister. "The crisis between Ukraine and Russia is creating tensions on the market, because part of Russian production is no longer available", he explained.

"It's in every producer's interest to move quickly to bring their gas to market," said the Minister.

Officially, the project cost Eni, already Congo's second-largest oil producer behind France's Total Group, $5 billion.

"New technologies played a fundamental role in the Congo LNG project's completion in record time: just one year from the final investment decision to the start-up of production", Claudio Descalzi was delighted to report.

According to the government, this production should generate 29 billion CFA francs (over 44 million euros) in the 2024 budget.

Resources that contrast with the daily lives of the Congolese people. According to the World Bank, almost half the Congolese population lives below the poverty line, and 41% of young Congolese are unemployed.

Par Le360 Afrique (avec AFP)