BP LNG project passes next milestone on route to first exports
Gimi floating LNG vessel starts receiving cleaned-up gas from ultra-deepwater wells via FPSO
BP’s delayed and over-budget Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project offshore Mauritania and Senegal moved another step closer to commercial production after gas was introduced into the floating liquefied natural gas vessel that lies at the heart of the development.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, Golar said that, on 18 January, the Gimi FLNG vessel received feed gas from the BP-operated FPSO, and full commissioning has started.
Before achieving this milestone, gas from the LNG carrier British Sponsor was being used to carry out advanced commissioning work.
However, receipt of gas from the Technip Energies-built FPSO now allows for full commissioning activity to ramp up.
The first LNG export cargo is now expected within the first quarter of 2025, said Golar, adding that what is known as the full commercial operations date (COD) is expected within the second quarter of this year.
First gas to the FLNG vessel has triggered a final upward adjustment to a revised commissioning rate agreed in August 2024.
The COD will trigger the start of a 20-year lease and operate agreement that Golar said will unlock — for the contractor — the equivalent of “around $3 billion of adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation backlog, “and recognition of contractual payments comprised of capital and operating elements in both the balance sheet and income statement.”
Golar LNG’s share price in New York was down 1.73% at $41.10 on Tuesday’s news.
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