VIDEO: BP sanctions Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project

Oil major BP and its partners have announced that the Final Investment Decision (FID) for Phase 1 of the cross-border Greater Tortue Ahmeyim development has been agreed.

The Tortue/Ahmeyim field development is located in the C-8 block off the shore of Mauritania and the Saint-Louis Profond block offshore Senegal.

BP said on Friday that the decision was made following agreement between the Mauritanian and Senegalese governments and partners BP, Kosmos Energy, and National Oil Companies Petrosen and SMHPM.

“Achieving sanction for the ground-breaking Greater Tortue Ahmeyim development, and at such a fast pace, is testament to the dynamic partnership working together to bring this innovative project onstream and establish a new deepwater gas value chain,” said Bernard Looney, BP’s Upstream chief executive.

“It represents the beginning of a multi-phase project that is expected to deliver LNG revenues and gas to Africa and beyond for decades to come. We see this as the start of a new chapter for Africa’s energy story and are honoured to work alongside our partners and the governments of Mauritania and Senegal.”

The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project will produce gas from an ultra-deepwater subsea system and mid-water floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will process the gas, removing heavier hydrocarbon components. The gas will then be transferred to a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility at an innovative nearshore hub located on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border.

The FLNG facility is designed to provide circa 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum on average, with the total gas resources in the field estimated to be around 15 trillion cubic feet. The project, the first major gas project to reach FID in the basin, is planned to provide LNG for global export as well as making gas available for domestic use in both Mauritania and Senegal.

Project execution in 1Q 2019

Emma Delaney, BP’s regional president for West Africa, added: “We’re committed to working with the two nations to make this development a success for both countries, the local communities who live near the project and the investor partners. We see a great deal of potential in the wider basin and Phase 1 of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project is the first step in unlocking that for the future.”

The parties will continue to finalize agreements and obtain final regulatory and contract approvals, following which Phase 1 of the development will move into a detailed design and construction phase, with award of engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contracts.

Project execution activities are expected to start in 1Q 2019. First gas for the project is expected in 2022. Following a competitive process involving all partners, BP Gas Marketing has been selected as the sole buyer for the investor partners’ LNG offtake for Tortue Phase 1.

Andrew G. Inglis, Kosmos Energy chairman and chief executive officer, said: “For Kosmos, Greater Tortue Ahmeyim is another example of a world-class discovery being moved to project sanction on an accelerated timeline, ensuring early delivery of cashflow to the project partners and the governments of Mauritania and Senegal. With BP as operator, we have a partner with the experience and expertise to move the project through the development phase to production in the first half of 2022.”

It is worth mentioning that BP earlier this week gave Golar LNG a Limited Notice to Proceed related to the provision of a Floating Liquefaction Vessel (FLNG) for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field development.