Supermajor BP is set to launch a competitive bid process for a prized engineering contest covering phase two of its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) liquefied natural gas project offshore Senegal and Mauritania.

BP has not openly discussed the schedule for the GTA phase two, but partner Kosmos Energy has indicated that the preliminary front-end engineering and design tender exercise will start later this quarter once the chosen development concept — a gravity-based structure (GBS) — has been further optimised.

Todd Niebruegge, head of Kosmos' Mauritania-Senegal business unit, told Upstream on the sidelines of CeraWeek by S&P Global late last week that a pre-FEED contractor will be selected after concept optimisation has been wrapped up.