According to a joint statement by the energy ministries of Senegal and Mauritania, Petrosen, and SMH, gas production from GTA wells started to flow on December 31, 2024.
LNG production and deliveries are expected to begin “very soon,” the statement said.
BP confirmed in a statement on Thursday that it had begun 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.
“Today’s announcement marks an important milestone towards realizing the potential of Mauritania’s and Senegal’s gas resources, with the possibility for the countries to become an important LNG production hub.,” the company said.
The company did not say when it expects to start LNG production and ship the first cargo.
However, partner Kosmos Energy said in a separate statement that first LNG production is expected to “follow shortly with the first LNG cargo expected in the first quarter of 2025.”
BP is the sole offtaker
BP operates GTA with a 56 percent working interest, alongside Kosmos Energy (27 percent), Petrosen (10 percent) and SMH (7 percent).
The first phase of the delayed project features Golar LNG’s FLNG Gimi and the Tortue FPSO.
In February this 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 and and Kosmos previously agreed to use an LNG cargo to accelerate the commissioning schedule of the FLNG.
The LNG carrier British Sponsor started to introduce gas to FLNG Gimi in October 2024.
Texas-based Kosmos said in its third-quarter results report in November 2024 that “cool down and commissioning of the FLNG vessel has commenced with first LNG expected around the end of the fourth quarter of 2024.”
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.
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.
(Updated on January 2, 2025, to include statements by BP and Kosmos Energy,)
