An important milestone has been reached in the offshore natural gas production project between Mauritania and Senegal, with the arrival of a crucial floating unit after months of travel, as stated in a press release received from one of the project partners.
The Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO) arrived by sea on Saturday at the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) field, announced the state-controlled Senegalese oil company Petrosen, which is partnered with British BP, American Kosmos Energy, and the Mauritanian Hydrocarbon Company in the project.
Stationed in the Atlantic about 40 kilometers offshore and connected to extraction wells approximately 80 kilometers further out, the FPSO will receive and perform initial processing on the gas before it is shipped to another floating unit for liquefaction, located about 10 kilometers from the shore, to facilitate transportation.
The GTA project, with investments totaling several billion dollars, is expected to produce around 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year, for both domestic consumption and export.
It will bring Mauritania and Senegal into the gas-producing club, with expectations of significant revenues and a strong impact on their economies.
However, it has faced delays and cost increases. Mauritanian and Senegalese petroleum ministers stated in January that production is expected to commence in the third quarter of 2024.
The construction of the FPSO by the Chinese naval giant Cosco was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Petrosen. It finally departed China in January 2023. Kosmos Energy had anticipated its arrival in the second quarter of 2023.
However, additional work was required at shipyards in Singapore and a final technical stop in the Canary Islands, Petrosen reported.