Independent oil and gas firm Kosmos Energy released its first quarter financial and operating results this week, which shows strong progress made on the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) development – the first phase has been reflected as approximately 75% complete.
The company’s results indicate that Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pipe rack outfitting, equipment installation and testing has commenced, mooring piles for the Floating Production Storage and Offloading have been pre-installed offshore and the vessel itself is finishing construction and entering dry tests in the shipyard. In addition, construction of the hub terminal continues on schedule and drilling has commenced with top holes completed on two out of the four planned initial wells. With this news, the GTA project – having been delayed over a year due to COVID-19 impacts – appears to be back on track and scheduled for first gas in Q3 2023.
The GTA project is the largest hydrocarbon development currently underway in the MSGBC region and comprises two fields – Tortue and Ahmeyim – in Mauritania and Senegal respectively, serving as an example of transnational cooperation. The Tortue field is located in Mauritania’s C-8 block where the Tortue 1 discovery well uncovered 117 meters of net gas pay at a 2.7 km depth offshore in 2015. The Ahmeyim field in Senegal’s Saint Louis Offshore Profond block joined it in 2016 with the discovery of 78 meters net gas pay by the Ahmeyim-2 well at a depth of 5.2 km.
Kosmos Energy and bp signed a co-development agreement for the two reserves in 2016 with bp taking a majority share as operator and Kosmos holding stakes of 30% in Ahmeyim and 28% in Tortue. Combined, the reserves represent 15 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas spread over 33,000 km² and with the Mauritanian and Senegalese governments signing an accord for the cross-border development in February 2018, the ground-breaking project could move forward, having reached final investment decision for phase one in December of the same year.
Whereas phase one targets 2.5 million tons per annum as its current goal and a quarter of the estimated potential payload, phase two is expected to double that with bp having agreed to purchase LNG produced internally for twenty years. Given the fertility of the region’s reserves, this multi-decade development is only expected to grow with new discoveries such as the GTA-1 well hitting 30 meters of further net gas pay in 2019 and expanding on the already known reserves in the fields – some of the largest offshore deep-water discoveries of recent years. Additionally, with 28 new offshore blocks up for licensing in Mauritania and 12 in Senegal, success for the GTA development means success for the entire MSGBC region, making it a sound investment destination.
Kosmos Energy is also benefitting: the company’s Q1 2022 results show revenues up at $659 million with $125 million in production expenses. The company also emerges with net debt having decreased by approximately $330 million and with $900 million available liquidity, marking a promising upturn from the start of the year and a sign of the fiscal boom to come for the MSGBC region.
This and more will be discussed at the upcoming MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power Conference & Exhibition on 1 to 2 September in Dakar this year as Senegal’s economy, driven by oil and gas, sees projected growth of 9.2% for 2023 and as investment delegations flock to the west African nation from the United States, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.
