Page 8 - GLNG Week 15

GLNG AFRICA GLNG
Grand Tortue/Ahmeyim project falls behind schedule
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
BP is reportedly set to delay work at Grand Tor- tue/Ahmeyim, an offshore block that straddles the maritime border between Senegal and Mau- ritania, by about a year.
The UK-based super-major and its partners – Kosmos Energy (US), Société des Pétroles du Sénégal (Petrosen), and Société Mauritani- enne des Hydrocarbures (SMHPM) – have said that they hope to develop the block within the framework of a wider effort to establish an off- shore LNG complex. They intend to use natural gas from the site as feedstock for a floating LNG (FLNG) facility capable of turning out 2.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of fuel in its first phase. Output could rise later to 10mn tpy.
BP has already signed a 20-year charter for the FLNG vessel with Golar LNG and is due to take delivery of the facility in 2022. Last week, though, the multi-national made a declaration offorcemajeure,sayingitcouldnotbeginwork on time because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A spokesman for the company was quoted by Reuters as saying that this decision had been “a direct result of the ongoing business impacts due to COVID-19.”
Golar said in a statement that BP was antici- pating a delay of 12 months and saw no options for reducing this timespan. It also noted that the parties were now holding talks in a bid to deter- mine how long the Grand Tortue/Ahmeyim project would be postponed and the extent to
which the pandemic had contributed to the change in schedule. “Golar has asked BP to clarify how a force majeure event discovered as recently as the end of March 2020 could imme- diately impact the schedule by an estimated one year,” it said.
It added: “[In] anticipation of a potential delay, the company has commenced discussions with its main building contractor, Keppel Ship- yard Ltd, to re-schedule activities in order to reduce and re-profile its capital spending com- mitments for 2020 and 2021.”
Kosmos echoed BP’s position, saying that the public health measures introduced to con- tain the spread of the pandemic had forced a review of the work schedule. “With border clo- sures, travel bans, social distancing restrictions and office closures arising from the coronavi- rus, the project’s activities across global loca- tionshavebeenimpacted,”itexplained.“These ongoing restrictions have had an impact on time-critical workstreams, including the construction of the breakwater during the 2020 weather window. As a result, the Phase 1 project timeline is expected to be delayed by approximately 12 months, with first gas now expected in the first half of 2023.”
BP and its partners made a final investment decision (FID) on the Greater Tortue/Ahmeyim project in December 2018. The block is believed to hold about 425bn cubic metres of gas.™
The partners hope
to develop the block within the framework of a wider effort to establish an offshore LNG complex.
Golar said in a statement that BP was anticipating a delay of 12 months and saw no options for reducingthis timespan.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 15 17•April•2020