New chapter for Africa’s energy story

A project to unlock vast gas resources lying off the coasts of Mauritania and Senegal was given the green light today with the announcement of a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the cross-border Greater Tortue Ahmeyim development. 

The project, the first major gas project to reach FID in the basin, is planned to provide LNG for global export and energy for domestic use in both Mauritania and Senegal.

Announcing the agreement, BP’s Upstream chief executive Bernard Looney said: “this 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.

-         Potential to unlock 15 trillion cubic feet of gas – which is around twice this continent’s 2017 gas production

-         Ideally placed for global export to markets such as Europe, South America and Asia

-         Based on an innovative highly cost-competitive floating LNG concept

The gas will be produced by an ultra-deepwater subsea system and processed by a mid-water floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

From there, the gas will be transferred to an innovative floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility at a nearshore hub located on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border.

The FLNG facility is designed to provide around 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per year on average.

The offshore cross-border project in Mauritania and Senegal was agreed by the two countries governments and partners BP, Kosmos Energy and National Oil Companies Petrosen and SMHPM.

The parties will continue to obtain final regulatory and contract approvals Project execution activities are expected to start in 1Q 2019 with first gas for the project expected in 2022.