The Golar Gimi FLNG unit, currently under construction for BP's Tortue Ahmeyim project in the Senegal-Mauritania offshore, is due to go on stream next month.

According to Golar LNG, responsible for delivering the unit, the FLNG Gimi conversion is operating at 97%. Golar LNG has stated that FLNG Gimi is scheduled to leave the yard in September 2023. 

« Les vérifications finales, le stockage et les essais en mer auront ensuite lieu à Singapour avant son voyage vers la Mauritanie et le Sénégal, qui devrait commencer vers la fin septembre/début octobre », a déclaré Golar LNG.

Contractual dispute

Golar LNG has also stated that a dispute over the interpretation of the contract between Golar and BP concerning part of the contractual pre-commissioning cash flows remains, and that arbitration proceedings have been initiated.

« Cela n’affecte pas l’exécution plus large du projet de 20 ans qui devrait débloquer environ 3 milliards de dollars de carnet de commandes d’EBITDA ajusté pour Golar, soit l’équivalent d’un EBITDA ajusté annuel d’environ 151 millions de dollars », a déclaré Golar LNG.

Golar and BP signed a 20-year agreement in February 2019 for the charter of a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit, Gimi, and Golar subsequently commissioned Keppel to convert the Gimi LNG carrier into an FLNG unit. Golar stated at the time that construction of the Gimi FLNG was expected to cost around $1.3 billion.

Once delivered, the Gimi FLNG will be used to develop the cross-border offshore gas development between Mauritania and Senegal Tortue/Ahmeyim, one of Africa's deepest offshore projects at 2,000 meters below the sea surface.

The project will produce gas from an ultra-deepwater subsea system and a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will process the gas by removing heavier hydrocarbon components.

The gas will then be transferred to the GIMI FLNG in a nearshore hub located on the maritime border between Mauritania and Senegal. The FLNG facility is designed to supply around 2.5 million metric tons of LNG per year on average. Total gas resources in the field are estimated at around 15,000 billion cubic feet.

Kosmos Energy discovered the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field in 2015, and BP signed an agreement with Kosmos in 2016.

BP is the project operator. The partners sanctioned the first phase of project development in December 2018. Delivery of the vessel was scheduled for 2022, mais un accord a été conclu en octobre 2020 pour retarder la livraison en raison de l’épidémie de coronavirus.