Golar LNG’s converted floating LNG producer, Gimi, which will serve the first phase of BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim FLNG project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, has finally left Seatrium’s yard in Singapore.
According to a statement by Golar, the FLNG departed the yard on Sunday.
Gimi is now sailing under its own propulsion, supported by an escort tug, toward BP’s purpose-built Greater Tortue Ahmeyim hub offshore Mauritania and Senegal, it said.
Golar expects the voyage to take around 60 days, including refueling stops in Mauritius prior to rounding the Cape of Good Hope and in Namibia prior to its arrival.
Upon arrival, Gimi will notify BP that it is ready to be moored and connected to the hub, which is expected to trigger the start of contractual cash flows under the 20-year lease and operate agreement on the GTA field, Golar said.
Back in February 2019, Golar entered into the deal with BP for the charter of the FLNG.
Gimi was converted from a 1975-built Moss LNG carrier with a storage capacity of 125,000 cbm.
This is the world’s second converted floating LNG producer and joins Golar’s Hilli, also converted by Seatrium and currently located offshore Cameroon’s Kribi.
It will produce up to 2.7 million tonnes of LNG per year, using the Black & Veatch “Prico” liquefaction process.
Golar said in August that it expected the 293 meters long converted floating LNG producer to leave Seatrium’s yard in Singapore in September and after that it moved the departure to October.
“With Gimi soon on site for start-up of operations Golar will double its operating fleet of FLNGs and bring total installed liquefaction capacity up to 5.1 mtpa. We look forward to having FLNG Gimi in operation, and to continued long term cooperation with BP, Kosmos, and the national oil and gas companies of Mauritania and Senegal,” Golar CEO Karl-Fredrik Staubo, said.
Tortue launch could slip to Q2 2024
BP’s interim CEO Murray Auchincloss recently said the company is “hopeful” that it will launch the first phase of its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim FLNG project in the first quarter of 2024.
The company pushed back the start of the project due to a delay in the subsea scope.
BP also recently selected Swiss-based offshore contractor Allseas to complete the remaining subsea pipelay scope for the FLNG project, replacing previous contractor Houston-based McDermott.
US firm and project partner Kosmos said in its third-quarter report that the delivery of first gas from the first phase of the project has the potential to slip into the second quarter of 2024.
Kosmos said in the report that the partners expect sail away of the FLNG during this quarter, with arrival expected early next year.
The firm said that the partners are working with Golar to identify ways to advance commissioning of the vessel.
Kosmos said the critical path to first gas on phase 1 of the Tortue project is now through the arrival, hook-up, and commissioning of the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.
The project’s FPSO unit left Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry’s yard in Qidong, China in January this year.
The FPSO is “currently en route to Mauritania/Senegal and is now expected to arrive on location in the first quarter of 2024,” Kosmos said.
Following completion of commissioning activities at the site offshore Mauritania and Senegal, the FPSO will process natural gas – removing condensate, water, and other impurities – before exporting it by pipeline to the project’s FLNG facilities, 10km offshore.
With eight processing and production modules, the FPSO will process around 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The FLNG will liquefy majority of the gas, enabling export to international markets, while some of the supplies will help meet growing demand in the two host countries, BP previously said.
(Article updated to include a statement by Golar LNG.)