The FPSO vessel, crucial to the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) Phase 1 LNG development, has reached its final offshore destination on the maritime border between Mauritania and Senegal.
Currently being moored 40 km offshore at a water depth of 120 m, the FPSO will be operated by BP on behalf of the project’s partners: BP, Kosmos Energy, PETROSEN, and SMH.
The project will extract gas from reservoirs located approximately 120 km offshore using a subsea system.
After completing construction at the COSCO Qidong Shipyard in China, the FPSO traveled more than 12,000 nautical miles to the GTA site.
Dave Campbell, BP’s Senior Vice President for Mauritania and Senegal, remarked, “BP is investing in today’s energy system—and tomorrow’s too. GTA Phase 1 represents this investment in action.
This is a significant milestone for the project, an innovative LNG development that is unlocking gas resources for Mauritania and Senegal.
The FPSO vessel’s safe arrival and installation are a testament to the resilience, skills, teamwork, and immense effort of all the partners involved.
We are now fully focused on the safe completion of the project as we continue to work towards first gas.”
The GTA Phase 1 development is expected to produce around 2.3 million metric tons of LNG annually for over 20 years.
It marks the first gas development in this new basin offshore Mauritania and Senegal. With wells located in water depths of up to 2,850 m, the GTA Phase 1 development features the deepest subsea infrastructure in Africa.
The multibillion-dollar investment has been recognized as a national project of strategic importance by the presidents of both Mauritania and Senegal.
The FPSO will house up to 140 personnel during normal operations. It spans an area equivalent to two football fields and stands 10 stories tall, comprising more than 81,000 metric tons of steel, 37,000 meters of pipe spools, and 1.52 million meters of cable.
The FPSO is designed to process over 500 million standard cubic feet of gas daily. It will remove water, condensate, and impurities from the gas before transferring it through pipelines to the Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) vessel at the Hub Terminal, situated about 10 km offshore.
At the FLNG vessel, the gas will undergo cryogenic cooling, liquefaction, and storage before being transported to LNG carriers for export, with a portion allocated to meet the increasing demand in Mauritania and Senegal.
