SLB OneSubsea 6,700t Kutei Umbilical; Eni Coral North FLNG FID; Baker Hughes Greater PAJ Subsea Trees

Executive Summary

Three structural signals reshape the offshore landscape: SLB OneSubsea secures one of the industry's largest umbilical contracts — a 6,700-tonne system for Eni's Kutei North Hub offshore Indonesia, validating deepwater SURF demand in Southeast Asia. Eni and partners sanction the Coral North FLNG project in Mozambique, committing $6–7 billion to double the country's LNG output to over 7 MTPA by 2028. And Baker Hughes lands a major subsea trees contract for Azule Energy's Greater PAJ development in ultra-deepwater Angola — a project that reinforces West Africa's deepwater momentum and intensifies competition for subsea completions talent across the Gulf of Guinea–Southeast Asia–Middle East triangle.

SLB OneSubsea Wins 6,700-Tonne Umbilical Contract for Eni's Kutei North Hub

SLB's OneSubsea joint venture has been awarded a contract by Eni North Ganal Limited — a subsidiary of Searah Limited, the joint venture between Eni and PETRONAS — to deliver a steel tube umbilical system for the Kutei North Hub field development project offshore East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

The contract covers the engineering, procurement, and manufacture of 94.6 km of steel tube umbilical designed for water depths of up to 2,200 meters. With a total system weight of approximately 6,700 tonnes, the project represents one of the largest umbilical contracts awarded in the offshore industry to date.

The umbilical system is designed for a 10,000-psi operating pressure and includes the manufacture of a single continuous 30-km umbilical weighing approximately 2,100 tonnes, requiring specialized large-capacity carousel infrastructure for production and storage.

SLB OneSubsea will manufacture the system using a combination of its Oscilay™ and planetary production lines, allowing parallel manufacturing activities intended to improve production efficiency and shorten delivery schedules compared with conventional single-line manufacturing methods.

"Operators are looking for partners who can help them move projects forward with confidence. This award demonstrates how we combine technical expertise with innovative manufacturing capabilities to support efficient project execution and accelerated delivery."
— Mads Hjelmeland, CEO, SLB OneSubsea

IntelliS Take
The Kutei North Hub umbilical award is more than a single contract — it is a structural demand signal for deepwater SURF talent in Southeast Asia. At 6,700 tonnes across 94.6 km with a single 30-km continuous section, this project demands manufacturing engineers with carousel operations expertise, quality assurance specialists for 10,000-psi rated systems, and installation engineers capable of managing ultra-deepwater deployment. The parallel manufacturing approach (Oscilay + planetary) reduces delivery timelines but increases the need for concurrent production oversight — a skill set that is rare in a market where most experienced umbilical engineers are already deployed on existing Kutei or Baleine commitments.

Talent Signal
Umbilical manufacturing engineers — Carousel operations, steel tube extrusion, QA for 10,000-psi rated systems — immediate demand through 2027 as Kutei North Hub enters fabrication phase.

Deepwater installation engineers — Umbilical lay vessel operators and survey teams for 2,200m water depth — mobilisation window opens H2 2027.

SURF project controls — Parallel manufacturing oversight requires senior schedulers and cost engineers with multi-line production experience — scarce in APAC where most controls professionals are committed to concurrent Australian gas projects.

Eni Sanctions Coral North FLNG — $6–7B FID Doubles Mozambique LNG Output

Eni and its partners — CNPC (20%), ENH (10%), Kogas (10%), and XRG (ADNOC subsidiary, 10%) — have reached Final Investment Decision for the Coral North Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project, located offshore in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique.

The Coral North FLNG facility is scheduled to start production in 2028, with an annual liquefaction capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). When combined with the existing Coral South FLNG (3.4 MTPA, operational since 2022), Mozambique's total LNG output will exceed 7 MTPA, making it Africa's third-largest LNG producer.

The project is projected to attract over $6–7 billion in investment. JGC Holdings, Technip Energies, and Samsung Heavy Industries have secured the EPCIC contract valued at less than $5 billion, with JGC's share exceeding $1 billion. Samsung Heavy Industries will handle the FLNG hull engineering and topside module fabrication.

Coral North will be a near-replica of Coral South, utilising subsea wells connected directly to the floating unit where gas is processed, liquefied, stored, and transferred to carrier vessels — eliminating the need for onshore liquefaction infrastructure and reducing security exposure in the Cabo Delgado region.

IntelliS Take
The Coral North FID confirms that ultra-deepwater FLNG is now a repeatable project class, not a one-off. With Coral South operational and Coral North sanctioned, the industry has proven that floating liquefaction can be delivered on schedule in challenging frontier environments. The talent implication is clear: the EPCIC consortium (JGC/Technip/Samsung) will need to mobilise the same disciplines that delivered Coral South — and those engineers are already deployed or recently decommissioned from the first unit. The competition for FLNG commissioning teams, cryogenic process engineers, and subsea tie-in specialists will intensify across the Africa–Southeast Asia corridor as Mozambique and Indonesia's Kutei projects compete for the same pool.

Talent Signal
FLNG commissioning engineers — Pre-commissioning and start-up teams with Coral South or similar FLNG experience — demand spike H1 2027 through first gas in 2028.

Cryogenic process engineers — Liquefaction train specialists for 3.6 MTPA capacity — limited global pool with most deployed on concurrent QatarEnergy and North Sea LNG projects.

Subsea tie-in specialists — Deepwater flowline and umbilical connection engineers for Coral field subsea infrastructure — overlaps with Kutei and Baleine demand in APAC.

Baker Hughes Secures Subsea Trees Contract for Angola's Greater PAJ Development

Baker Hughes has secured a contract with Azule Energy to supply subsea production systems for the Greater PAJ development in Angola's ultra-deepwater Blocks 31 and 31/21.

The contract encompasses the delivery of horizontal subsea tree systems, subsea control modules, intervention workover control systems, associated topside equipment, and integrated tooling and services for installation, commissioning, and production support. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2027.

The Greater PAJ development targets first oil in 2029, utilising a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel capable of a 95,000 barrels per day throughput. The subsea components are engineered for challenging environments, rated for operating pressures of 10,000 psi and water depths reaching 10,000 ft.

Baker Hughes will leverage its established local supply chain in Angola — the location of its largest installed subsea base in Sub-Saharan Africa — to support the project, which stands as one of the region's most prominent new deepwater investments.

IntelliS Take
The Greater PAJ award reinforces a structural trend: Angola's ultra-deepwater developments are accelerating even as West African shallow-water production matures. Baker Hughes' local manufacturing footprint in Angola gives it a delivery advantage, but the talent bottleneck is not equipment supply — it is the pool of subsea completions engineers, intervention specialists, and commissioning supervisors capable of executing 10,000-psi, 10,000-ft water depth projects. These individuals are the same professionals being courted by Kutei North Hub (Indonesia), Baleine Phase 3 (Côte d'Ivoire), and Saudi pipeline expansion — creating a three-way talent pull that will drive premium day rates for senior subsea completions expertise through 2029.

Talent Signal
Subsea completions engineers — Horizontal tree systems, 10,000-psi rated, intervention and workover — demand intensifies from 2027 delivery window.

Ultra-deepwater commissioning supervisors — 10,000-ft water depth experience required — the global pool is under 500 individuals, most already committed.

Angola-local content specialists — Compliance and training roles as Azule Energy meets local content requirements for the Greater PAJ development — creates secondary demand for mentorship-capable expatriate supervisors.

Key Stats