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Kosmos Energy has launched a formal process to sell two thirds of its interest in the Mauritania/Senegal Basin, with bids expected by the end of the summer. Kosmos chairman and chief executive Andrew Inglis told a conference call on the company’s Q1 results on 6 May that the company had been encouraged by the response. “We’ve received considerable industry interest from around 15 large, highly credible companies who see the significant strategic value in gas assets and the size and quality of the resource.

Mauritania will soon have a new president, defence minister Mohammed Cheikh Ould Mohammed Ahmed El-Ghazouani, and the recently re-elected president of Senegal, Macky Sall, has appointed a new government, but political change is unlikely to affect plans to develop the offshore Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas field.Sources canvassed by African Energy said domestic political manoeuvres were calculated to maintain the pace of a development that both countries – which have traditionally been political rivals – require to be delivered as quickly as possible following their 10 February 2018 inter-governmental unitisation agreement.

BP has given contracts to McDermott International and Baker Hughes (BHGE) for subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (Surf) and subsea production system equipment for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim natural gas project offshore Mauritania and Senegal. The companies are working together to realise efficiencies for the project, which reached a final investment decision in December.The initial subsea infrastructure will connect the first four of 12 wells consolidated through production pipelines leading to a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

BP and Kosmos Energy on 21 December announced a final investment decision for Phase 1 of the groundbreaking Greater Tortue Ahmeyim gas project. Kosmos said the decision was made with BP and the two state oil companies, Petrosen and Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier, following a meeting to agree final elements held in Nouakchott between President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania and President Macky Sall of Senegal.

BP has given Golar LNG Limited a limited notice to proceed for the provision of a floating liquefaction vessel to support the development of Phase 1 of the Greater Tortue/Ahmeyim field as the project closes in on an imminent final investment decision (FID). This follows a preliminary agreement and heads of terms for a charter agreement with BP announced by Golar in April. FID on the development is planned around year-end or early in 2019, once the governments have granted an exclusive exploitation authorisation.

Ahead of becoming a gas exporter, and with increasing western and multilateral funds being targeted on the strategically sensitive Sahel region, Mauritania is attracting increasing business interest. The World Bank Group (WBG) has been advising Senegal and Mauritania on the transition to gas production and has made new commitments to social and economic developments and private sector growth. Oil major BP has bought into the Grand Tortue/Ahmeyim gasfield complex on the Mauritania-Senegal maritime border, in partnership with Kosmos Energy.

State utility Société Mauritanienne d’Electricité (Somelec) is planning to award further contracts as it works to upgrade its national transmission and distribution system. The government has continued to secure financing from Arab/Islamic funds, and is also looking for increased western support to reflect the important role that Mauritania under President Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz has taken in the so-called G5 Sahel and other regional security initiatives, as well as its improving economic prospects as gas exports beckon early in the next decade.

Morocco is talking to the Mauritanian government about an interconnection that would bring Société Mauritanienne d’Electricité (Somelec) into the North African Maghreb Electricity Committee (Comelec) grid. An interconnection would also link Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau Potable into the growing West African grid, Moroccan energy, mines and sustainable development minister Abdelaziz Rabbah told the Africa Energy Forum (AEF) in June.

Royal Dutch Shell has entered the West African Atlantic Margin, taking two recently relinquished blocks offshore Mauritania. The company announced on 23 July that it had signed production-sharing contracts with the government for blocks C-10 and C-19. Once it has obtained government approval for the contracts, Shell will open an office in Nouakchott and begin exploration activities, starting with reprocessing and analysis of existing seismic data and acquisition of new data, the company said.Shell will operate the exploration programme with a 90% interest.

Spain’s Elecnor announced plans on 3 July to build a second turnkey wind farm in Boulenouar for Société Mauritanienne d’Electricité (Somelec). The €122m ($142m) project in Dakhlet Nouâdhibou region will have an installed capacity of 100MW. It is funded by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and will be built in consortium with Siemens-Gamesa Renewable Energy, which will supply 39 SG 2.6-114 wind turbines.

Golar LNG Limited has announced a preliminary agreement and heads of terms with BP for front-end engineering design work on a floating liquefied natural gas vessel to support the development of Phase 1A of the Greater Tortue/Ahmeyim field. The agreement follows contracts with TechnipFMC for the floating production, storage and offloading vessel, and with McDermott International and Baker Hughes for the subsea element.

Malaysia’s Petronas has given Ocean Installer a contract to assist in decommissioning work on the offshore Chinguetti oilfield. The contract for decommissioning of risers and umbilicals on the field follows an award from floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel operator BW Offshore on the same field in early February.

BP has given TechnipFMC a front-end engineering design contract for the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Tortue/Ahmeyim gas field development.TechnipFMC said the agreement provided a mechanism to move to an engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract at a later stage. “TechnipFMC will work on defining the technology and equipment scope and brings expertise to deliver major projects, leveraging extensive experience with Chinese fabrication,” the company said.

The World Bank approved on 16 March a $20m International Development Association grant to Mauritania to enhance the country’s capacity to negotiate investment agreements for developing the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim gas resource straddling the maritime boundary between Mauritania and Senegal.The bank said the grant would help Mauritania mobilise international expertise to strengthen the institutions involved in managing the field and its development. It will also strengthen the government’s capacity to engage effectively with stakeholders.

BP has selected McDermott International and Baker Hughes (BHGE) for front-end engineering design (FEED) studies in advance of an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for the subsea element of the Tortue/Ahmeyim field development. The companies will work together to define the technology and equipment scope for an initial four-well development phase. McDermott said the FEED work was scheduled to begin and complete this year. The agreement contains a mechanism to allow transition of the contract to a lump-sum EPCI contract at a later date.