Milestone for African natural gas project

Global energy major BP and project partner Technip Energies have reached a new milestone regarding the development of the highly-anticipated Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project located offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

In January, the project partners announced that the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for GTA has officially left China, for the project site.
Following three years of construction and successful sea trials of the FPSO unit, the facility – comprising eight processing and production modules – will enable the processing of up to 500-million cubic feet of gas and the production of 2.3-million tonnes a year of LNG during GTA’s first phase.

The state-of-the-art facility will accommodate 140 people, with its key function to remove water and condensate, while reducing impurities in the gas stream. Thereafter, the facility will export processed gas to the GTA’s associated floating LNG facility.

BP productions & operations executive VP Gordon Birrell stated: “This is a fantastic milestone for this important project, which is a great example of BP’s resilient hydrocarbon strategy in action. The team has delivered this in a challenging environment, including through Covid-19, always keeping safe operations at the heart of what they do. With the continued support of our partners,Societé Mauritanienne des Hydrocarburesin Mauritania, Petrosen in Senegal and Kosmos Energy, we remain committed to helping both countries to develop their world-class resources sustainably.”

Technip Energies COO Marco Villa added: “This is a significant milestone that demonstrates our project execution excellence with the highest standards of safety and quality. We would like to thank BP and their partners for their trust and we are looking forward to continuing the GTA FPSO journey with the next phases of the project taking place in Senegal and Mauritania.”

Energy law group the African Energy Chamber (AEC), as the voice of the African energy sector, strongly supported and congratulated BP and Technip Energies, as well as the governments of Senegal and Mauritania, for the milestone. The milestone represents a new era of energy security, economic prosperity, as well as gross domestic product (GDP) growth across what is known as the MSGBC region, on the back of natural gas monetisation.

While efforts by BP, Technip Energies and the respective national oil companies of Senegal and Mauritania have played a vital role in the realization of this milestone, much of the success of this project can be attributed to the commitment shown by Senegalese President Macky Sall.

The President has prioritised the country’s economic growth on the back of hydrocarbon industry expansion. Through the introduction of the Emerging Senegal Plan and Petroleum Code 2019, Sall has created an enabling environment for oil and gas stakeholders, ensuring projects such as the GTA can flourish.

By boosting local content development and capacity building, resource development and infrastructure buildup, Sall continues to fast-track the country’s oil and gas market boom.

“The Chamber strongly supports the milestone achieved by BP, Technip Energies, Mauritania and Senegal, and commends all parties for their resilient approach to making the GTA project a reality. With the FPSO unit now on its way to Senegal and Mauritania’s shared offshore basin, a new era of energy sector growth for the two countries has started. The AEC strongly supports the strategies undertaken by BP and Technip Energies to accelerate the continent’s gas development and infrastructure rollout agenda,” states AEC executive chairperson NJ Ayuk.

He adds: “We believe that projects such as GTA and companies such as BP and Technip Energies represent key players for helping make energy poverty history across the African continent by 2030.”

With gas representing the resource of the future and expected to usher in a new era of electrification and industrialisation - lifting Africa out of energy poverty while shaping the global energy transition – the AEC backs Mauritania and Senegal’s gas development agenda. The GTA project represents a key part of this agenda.

The AEC is confident that projects such as the GTA will drive lasting and positive economic benefits across Africa, opening up new opportunities for job creation and multi-sector revitalisation, while stabilising global markets and easing supply constraints.

In this regard, the 2023 edition of the African Energy Week (AEW) conference and exhibition – which will take place from October 16 to 20 in Cape Town – will promote Africa’s gas and wider hydrocarbon industry growth agenda. It will also provide an ideal platform for new deals to be signed and investment secured on the back of successful project developments such as the GTA.

As the official place where Africa’s future is discussed, AEW 2023 will host high-level panel discussions, investment forums, exclusive networking sessions and technical workshops showcasing investment opportunities across Africa’s burgeoning gas industry. For potential investors and project developers hoping to mirror the success of the GTA project, AEW 2023 represents the ideal platform for new developments to be kicked off and partnerships established.