BP selects KBR for Tortue offshore project FEED

The U.S. engineering and construction giant KBR has won its second important offshore industry related contract in just two days.

After announcing a Browse FPSO concept contract with Woodside on Thursday, KBR on Friday announced it was awarded more work on BP’s Tortue development sitting offshore Senegal and Mauritania.

KBR, which was last year awarded pre-front end engineering design (FEED) and project support services for the Tortue project, has now won a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) contract by BP for Phase 1 of the Tortue field Hub/Terminal development.

The agreement contains a mechanism to allow transition of the contract to an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) contract at a later date, KBR said on Friday.

Under the BP contract, KBR will provide management of the Quarters and Utilities (QU) including Telecoms Systems FEED and provision of supplemental services (system engineering, interface oversight, technology planning, support, and verification) of the Hub/Terminal for the Tortue project in Senegal and Mauritania.

The FEED work is to be performed up to the end of 2018 to support the FID.

Jay Ibrahim, KBR President, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and Asia-Pacific said: “This win is indicative of KBR’s strategic commitment to our partner BP, building on concept work done by our subsidiary Granherne, and then the Pre-FEED that was executed by KBR and now to this FEED award.”

Kosmos Energy and BP expect to make a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Tortue project around the end of this year.

Mauritania and Senegal have signed the Inter-Governmental Cooperation Agreement (ICA) which enables the development of the cross-border Tortue natural gas field to continue moving forward.

The Tortue discovery was made by Kosmos Energy, which farmed down its investment to BP in December 2016. BP now has the largest interest (~60%) among the four partners in the project and is the operator. The Tortue field is estimated to contain more than 15 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. First gas is expected in 2021.

The plan is to develop the project as a near-shore liquefied natural gas (LNG) development which would export LNG to global markets as well as supplying gas to Senegal and Mauritania.

BP has earlier this year signed heads of agreement with Golar LNG for the provision of an FLNG unit for the Greater Tortue/Ahmeyin project.

Offshore Energy Today Staff