BP, partners achieve first LNG at Tortue project

Dallas-based Kosmos announced on Monday that first LNG production has been achieved at the BP-operated GTA LNG project.

Last month, BP and its partners started flowing gas from wells at the GTA Phase 1 LNG project to its floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the next stage of commissioning.

At the FPSO, gas is being processed to remove any condensate, water, and impurities ahead of delivery to the floating LNG vessel for liquefaction.

“Gas has now been delivered to the floating LNG vessel and liquefaction has commenced,” Kosmos said.

First LNG cargo

The first phase of the delayed project features Golar LNG’s FLNG Gimi and the Tortue FPSO.

In February last year, the 2.5 mtpa FLNG, 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 FPSO unit also arrived at the GTA project off the coasts of Mauritania and Senegal in May.

BP operates GTA with a 56 percent working interest alongside Kosmos Energy (27 percent), Petrosen (10 percent), and SMH (7 percent). 

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 said on Monday that BP has given notice to BP Gas Marketing for an LNG carrier to arrive “later this quarter to export the first LNG cargo.”

“Lifting of the first LNG cargo is when Kosmos starts to recognize revenue and generate cash flow from the project,” the firm said.

Second phase

Besides the first phase, the partners are also planning a second phase of the project.

In February 2023, 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.