The delivery of first gas from the first phase of BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim FLNG project located offshore Mauritania and Senegal has the potential to slip into the second quarter of 2024, according to project partner Kosmos Energy.
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 recently selected Swiss-based offshore contractor Allseas to complete the remaining subsea pipelay scope for the FLNG project, replacing previous contractor Houston-based McDermott.
FLNG to arrive in early 2024
Golar LNG’s converted floating LNG producer Gimi, which will serve the first phase of BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim FLNG project, is now expected to arrive on the project’s site early next year.
Golar LNG said in August that it expected the converted floating LNG producer, Gimi, to leave Seatrium’s yard in Singapore in September and after that it moved the departure to October.
The 2.5 mtpa FLNG was on Monday still located at the yard, according to its AIS data.
Gimi will serve BP’s Tortue FLNG project under a 20-year charter deal.
US firm Kosmos said in its third-quarter report that “construction and mechanical completion activities are finishing and pre-commissioning work is underway.”
“The vessel is expected to sail away later this quarter arriving on location early next year when hookup work is expected to commence,” it said.
First gas
Kosmos said that “significant progress” has been made on the revised plan to complete installation of the infield flowlines and subsea structures due to the previously announced delay in the subsea workstream.
Work on the revised plan is expected to start later this quarter with new contractors.
As per the project’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, it 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.
According to the firm, the “critical path to first gas on Phase 1 of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project is now through the arrival, hookup, and commissioning of the FPSO.”
“The delivery of first gas in the first quarter of 2024, as signaled by BP in its third quarter results last week, depends on the execution of this workstream, which has the potential to slip into the second quarter of 2024,” the firm 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.
Yakaar-Teranga
Kosmos also announced on Monday that it had assumed operatorship and increased its interest in the Yakaar-Teranga gas discoveries offshore Senegal to 90 percent (from 30 percent), subject to customary government approvals.
The increase in working interest follows BP’s exit from the field.
Yakaar-Teranga is one of the world’s largest gas discoveries in recent years and holds around 25 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of advantaged gas in place, with negligible carbon dioxide content and minimal impurities, reducing the need for processing ahead of transportation/liquefaction, Kosmos said.
Kosmos has been working closely with Petrosen and the government of Senegal on a development concept that prioritizes “cost-competitive” gas to the rapidly growing domestic market, combined with an offshore LNG facility targeting exports into international markets, it said.
The currently envisioned development concept is an offshore development producing about 550 million standard cubic feet of gas per day with domestic gas transported via pipeline to shore and export volumes liquefied on a floating LNG vessel.
The concept is now being optimized to best meet the domestic and international requirements, after which the project will move into front-end design and engineering (FEED), Kosmos said.