BP wins GTA LNG sales arbitration case

BP is the operator of the first GTA phase. Besides Kosmos, other partners include PETROSEN and SMH.

In 2020, the partners signed a sales and purchase agreement under which BP Gas Marketing will offtake 2.45 million tonnes per annum of LNG from the first phase of the GTA project for an initial term of up to 20 years.

BP’s unit is the sole offtaker of the project’s volumes.

Kosmos CEO Andrew Inglis said last year that the company “agreed to move to arbitration to ensure that the interpretation of the contract is aligned between ourselves and BP.”

“On October 7, 2024, the International Chamber of Commerce informed Kosmos Energy that a final award had been issued in the arbitration proceedings with BP Gas Marketing regarding future LNG sales from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project,” Kosmos said on Tuesday.

According to Kosmos, the final, binding award prohibits the company from selling LNG cargoes to third-party buyers during the contract term of the LNG sales agreement, which the company has an option to end in 2033.

“The final award does not change the terms of the LNG sales agreement as presently performed by the parties and is therefore not expected to have an impact on the company’s long-term expectations and financial condition,” Kosmos said.

GTA launch

In February, Golar LNG’s 2.5 mtpa FLNG Gimi, which was converted from a 1975-built Moss LNG carrier with a storage capacity of 125,000 cbm, arrived at the GTA hub.

After that, the project’s floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit also arrived in May at the GTA project off the coasts of Mauritania and Senegal.

With eight processing and production modules, the FPSO will process around 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

The gas supplies will then be transported by pipeline to the FLNG unit at the GTA hub where it will be cryogenically cooled in the vessel’s four liquefaction trains and stored before transfer to LNG carriers.

Kosmos revealed in its second-quarter earnings results that the FLNG is expected to receive a pre-commissioning cargo to accelerate the cool down of the unit in August.

Inglis also confirmed in August that the partners expect to produce first LNG cargo in the fourth quarter of this year.

Second phase

In February last year, the partners confirmed the development concept for the second phase of the GTA LNG project, which they will take forward to the next evaluation stage.

The partnership will evaluate a gravity-based structure (GBS) as the basis for the GTA Phase 2 expansion project (GTA2) with total capacity of between 2.5-3 million tonnes per annum.

GBS LNG developments have a static connection to the seabed with the structure providing LNG storage and a foundation for liquefication facilities.

The concept design will also include new wells and subsea equipment, integrating with and expanding on existing GTA infrastructure.