BP confirms delay of Senegal-Mauritania LNG project

BP has delayed the commissioning of the first phase of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project offshore Senegal and Mauritania, BP’s CEO Bernard Looney announced on Tuesday.

The first phase is now expected to come on line in 2024 instead of 2023.

While exact reasons for the delay were not announced, Upstream Online’s sources have indicated that the slowdown may be associated with a pipelay vessel experiencing technical difficulties.

The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project is located 120 kilometres from the shore in water depths of 2,850 metres.

The first phase of the project is under development, which will export gas to an FPSO provided by Golar LNG.

The gas will be processed and separated on the vessel before being delivered to a floating offshore facility located 10 kilometres from the shore.

Production of around 2.3 million tonnes of LNG per year is estimated for when the first phase is complete.

The second phase is expected to produce between 2.5 million tonnes and 3 million tonnes of LNG per year.

BP is the operator of the project alongside independent Kosmos Energy and Société des pétroles du Sénégal and Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures, the NOCs of Senegal and Mauritania, respectively.