Kosmos Energy has announced the start of gas production at the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, a joint venture with operator bp plc, located offshore Mauritania and Senegal.
Gas began flowing on 31st December 2024 from the project’s first phase, transferring from wells to the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
The gas will then be delivered to a floating LNG vessel for liquefaction. Once fully operational, GTA Phase 1 is projected to produce approximately 2.3 million tonnes of LNG per annum (mtpa), with a floating LNG vessel capacity of 2.7 mtpa.
The first LNG cargo is anticipated in the first quarter of 2025, when Kosmos Energy expects to begin recognising revenue from the project.
Andrew G. Inglis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kosmos Energy, described the achievement as setting the stage for the company’s growth ambitions. “Achieving first gas sets the stage for us to ramp up production and reach the ~90,000 boepd production target we set two years ago. With our key growth projects largely delivered and capex falling, Kosmos is well positioned going into 2025,” he said.
Inglis also emphasised Kosmos Energy’s focus on financial stability, noting, “The company remains focused on disciplined capital allocation and the generation of free cash flow that enables us to pay down debt, reduce leverage to less than 1.5x, and enhance the financial resilience of the company.”
The project’s success is being closely monitored as an indicator of West Africa’s potential to emerge as a major LNG exporter.
According to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, African countries exported a total of around 86bn m³ of gas in 2022, with approximately 54bn m³ exported as LNG.
The GECF also revealed that the demand for energy in Africa is expected to increase by 82% by 2050 and natural gas will account for 30% of their energy mix.
The West African country of Nigeria currently boasts the largest gas reserves at around 203 trillion ft³, according to 2021 figures.
Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt lead the pack in LNG exports having the highest export capacity on the continent. Algeria’s export capacity is 29.3m tpy, Nigeria’s is 22.2m tpy and Egypt’s is 12.2m tpy.
Nigeria’s top three LNG destinations between 2023-2033 will be China (158.8bn m³), Spain (49bn m³) and France (48.5bn m³).
Ukraine had plans to import Algerian LNG through a proposed terminal featuring an FSRU and a land-based facility with a combined capacity of 7.3 million tpy. The project, intended to reduce reliance on Russian gas, was set to begin construction in 2012 and operate by 2018 but stalled due to insufficient investment.
Although interest was renewed in 2017 with a Frontera Resources-Naftogaz agreement, no progress has been reported since.
Presently, LNG developers spearheaded by European oil and gas companies are looking to target almost 14 million tonnes per year of new African liquefaction capacity by 2028.
