The Grand Tortue Ahmeyim gas field development, straddling the offshore waters of Mauritania and Senegal, is expected to produce its first gas in 2023, instead of 2022 as initially planned, following delays related to the coronavirus pandemic.
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This was announced by Sophie Gladima, Senegal’s Oil Minister saying, “The start of the pandemic coincided with a key period corresponding to the development of the oil and gas fields. We have witnessed many development-related activities, such as the mobilization of resources and people, the construction phases on various sites around the world, and installations being affected.”
A brief about the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim gas field project
The US$ 4.8bn Grand Tortue Ahmeyim gas field project is being developed by the governments of Mauritania and Senegal in collaboration with Kosmos Energy, a leading deepwater exploration and production company founded and based in Dallas, Texas in the United States, and BP plc., a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England, and one of the world’s seven oil and gas “supermajors”.
The project is set to produce 2.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually and 70 million cu ft of natural gas a day in its first phase. The production will, according to Gladima, be equally shared between the two West African countries.
Oil and Gas reserved discovered in Senegal between 2014 and 2017
Between 2014 and 2017, reserves of more than 1 billion barrels of oil and 40,000 billion cu ft of gas were found in Senegal, most of them shared with Mauritania, according to the International Monetary Fund. The discovery prompted Senegal to be hailed as one of the region’s most promising new producers and a possible future member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
However, Gladima has clarified that any talks of joining any international organization or not are premature. “Senegal is focused on the development of its oil projects to meet its objective of starting production in 2023. The resources will be used to build an economy that is connected and competitive through the reduction of electricity costs, the development of local content, and industrialization.”
