Managing director Auchincloss said the supermajor Bp had focused on bringing the first phase online before evaluating expansion options. The FPSO is en route to GTA; it is currently offshore Maputoa, while the FLNG is expected to leave Singapore by the end of 2023.
BP appears reluctant to pursue its developments offshore Mauritania and Senegal, even as it strengthens its supply portfolio. The British major is nearing the finish line for the start-up of its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) natural gas project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, after the development was plagued by delays and the replacement of a key contractor.
Contractor problems have had a negative impact on the project, but BP expects it to start up in 2024. The company has raised the prospect of three other developments in the region, GTA Phase 2, Bir Allah...
According to a press release from February this year, the second phase would involve a gravitational structure (GBS). Its capacity would be 2.5 to 3 million tonnes per year.
Speaking to analysts at a conference following the publication of its third-quarter results, BP's acting chief executive Murray Auchincloss said that the major British oil company was concentrating on implementing the first phase of GTA. Development of the first phase is "90% complete", he said, adding that "the offshore breakwater is now complete".
« Nous espérons démarrer au premier trimestre de 2024. »
GTA was originally scheduled to come on stream in 2023, but delays in the pipe-laying process have delayed the start-up.
Asked about the state of planning for expansion of GTA beyond the initial phase, Auchincloss said that any expansion would depend on the performance of the first phase and the extent of resources.
"We're concentrating on getting phase one up and running; we'll see how productive the resource base is and that will inform phase two and the trade negotiations with these governments," he said.
The GTA project includes a floating production, storage and offloading vessel where gas and liquids will be separated. The liquids will be exported by shuttle tanker, while the gas will be piped to Golar LNG's 2.3 million tonne-per-year Gimi floating LNG vessel.
European supplier Allseas recently announced that it had won the contract to complete the laying of subsea pipelines at GTA, following the early departure of the previous contractor assigned to the work, McDermott.
GTA's FPSO is expected to arrive on site in the fourth quarter of this year, GTA partner Kosmos Energy said earlier this year.
In its third-quarter results, BP posted a 60% year-on-year fall in profit to $3.3 billion, missing analysts' forecasts of $4 billion.
BP said results had been "impacted by weak gas trading performance in the quarter" compared with "exceptional" trading performance in previous reporting periods.