A floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the BP-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has started travelling to the project site, off the coasts of Mauritania and Senegal.
The FPSO left on 20 January from Qidong, China after successfully completing a series of sea trials following construction.
It will now travel 12,000 miles (19,000km) via Singapore to its destination – around 40km offshore on the maritime border of Indonesia and Malaysia.
The FPSO is a key part of the GTA development that also includes subsea development of gas fields and near-shore floating LNG (FLNG) facilities.
The project’s first phase is set to produce approximately 2.3 million tonnes of LNG, per year.
The FPSO will have eight processing and production modules and will process approximately 500 million cubic feet (14.16m³) of gas per day.
GTA Phase 1 marks the beginning of the project, which is hoped to have a lasting and positive impact.
Rahman Rahmanov, BP’s vice president projects for Mauritania and Senegal, says: ‘We are developing one of the world’s most unique and innovative gas projects and the FPSO forms one of the most important components. Achieving the successful sail away of the GTA Phase 1 FPSO is a testimony to the tremendous partnership with our contractors Cosco Shipping and Technip Energies. By working together as one team, we have been able to create a culture of resilience and focus on safe delivery. We have relentlessly focused on safety, quality, and delivery.’
Gordon Birrell, BP’s executive vice president of production and operations, says: ‘This is a fantastic milestone for this important project, which is a great example of bp’s resilient hydrocarbon strategy in action. The team has delivered this in a challenging environment, including through Covid, always keeping safe operations at the heart of what they do. With the continued support of our partners, Societé Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures in Mauritania, Petrosen in Senegal and Kosmos Energy, we remain committed to helping both countries to develop their world-class resources in a sustainable way.’
