BP, Kosmos plan FID for West African LNG project this year

Kosmos Energy and BP plan to make a final investment decision (FID) for the Tortue development offshore Mauritania and Senegal, which includes a  floating LNG production unit, by the end of this year.

This was announced on Monday by Kosmos Energy following the signing of an inter-governmental cooperation agreement between Mauritania and Senegal which enables the development of the cross-border Tortue natural gas field to continue moving forward.

With this agreement in place, Kosmos expects a final investment decision (FID) for the Greater Tortue project “around the end of 2018 and is aiming for first gas in 2021,” it said.

The agreement between Mauritania and Senegal provides for development of the Tortue field through cross-border unitization, with a 50%-50% initial split of resources and revenues, and a mechanism for future equity redeterminations based on actual production and other technical data, the statement said.

BP and Kosmos Energy have formed ties in December 2016 looking to jointly develop the West African LNG project. The agreement was approved by the government in February t2017 forging the path for the companies to develop a new LNG hub in Africa.

The partners plan to process and transport the gas from Tortue at a near-shore LNG facility, with the option to expand the proposed complex in phases to accommodate future gas discoveries.