The floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel for the bp-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) LNG project set sail Jan. 20.
The FPSO left the COSCO shipyard in Qidong, China, following completion of a series of sea trials after 3.5 years of construction. It will travel 12,000 nautical miles via Singapore to its destination 75 miles offshore on the maritime border of Mauritania and Senegal in 9,350 ft of water.
The FPSO is part of the GTA development that also includes subsea development of gas fields and floating LNG (FLNG) liquification 10 km offshore. The FPSO will process natural gas, removing condensate, water, and other impurities. Most of the gas will be liquefied by the FLNG, enabling export to international markets, while some is allocated to help meet growing demand in the two host countries. Condensate will be periodically transferred from the FPSO to shuttle tankers for export to market.
With eight processing and production modules, the FPSO will process around 500 MMscfd. The project’s first phase is set to produce around 2.3 million tonnes/year of LNG.
Tortue Ahmeyim field development is on the C-8 block offshore Mauritania and the Saint-Louis Profond block offshore Senegal. The field holds estimated gas resources of 15 tcf. The integrated gas value chain and near-shore LNG development will export LNG to global markets as well as supplying gas to Senegal and Mauritania (OGJ Online, Oct. 1, 2020).
bp operates Tortue with 61%. Partners are Kosmos 29%, Senegal-state Petrosen 5%, and Mauritania state firm SMHPM 5%.
