BP’s plans to establish a second liquefied natural gas project off north-west Africa took a major step forward after a successful appraisal well was drilled this week on its Yakaar discovery off Senegal.

The Yakaar-2 well was drilled by the drillship Valaris DS-12 which is now en route to Mauritania to drill another key probe for BP, the results of which will be critical to underpin a potential third LNG project in the region.

Greater Tortue Ahmeyim is the first LNG scheme, with phase one due on line in 2022 via subsea wells and a floating production, storage and offloading vessel feeding gas to a floating LNG unit installed behind a breakwater.

Yakaar-2 hit about 30 metres of net gas pay in similar high-quality Cenomanian reservoir to the Yakaar-1 discovery well, continuing BP’s 100% success rate from wells targeting the gas play off Mauritania and Senegal.

The Yakaar-2 probe was drilled some nine kilometres from Yakaar-1 and proved up the southern extension of the field.

Commenting on the results, Andy Inglis, chief executive of minority partner Kosmos Energy, said: “The Yakaar-2 appraisal well demonstrates the scale and quality of the Yakaar resource base.”

A combined development of Yakaar and BP’s nearby Teranga gas discovery is now on the cards.

The US independent said that Yakaar-2’s results “underpin our view that the Yakaar-Teranga resource base is world-scale and has the potential to support an LNG project that provides significant volumes of gas to both domestic and export markets”.

Development of Yakaar-Teranga, said Kosmos, is expected to take place in a phased manner with the first phase providing domestic gas, and its performance determining the design of later stages.

It will also support the country’s Emergent Senegal plan which was launched in 2014.

Discovered in 2017, Yakaar lies about 95 kilometres north-west of Dakar, with Teranga (discovered in 2016) located some 65 kilometres from the capital city.

The Yakaar-2 well was drilled in about 2500 metres of water in the Cayar Offshore Profond block to a total measured depth of around 4800 metres.

Teranga is located in the same block in waters around 1800 metres deep.

Kosmos did not provide information on potential resources at Yakaar and Teranga in the light of the latest well results.

However, BMO Capital Markets analyst David Round suggested “it likely proves up the higher end” of the company’s previous guidance of 10 trillion to 25 trillion cubic feet.

Bullishly, he added that the result “should remove any uncertainties around the ability of Yakaar-Teranga to support a 10 million tonnes per annum LNG project”.

The analyst’s note suggested 12 Tcf of resources is required for a 10 million tpa project, with BMO modeling Yakaar-Teranga as holding 14 Tcf with start-up in 2025.

The remaining partner in Yakaar-Teranga is state-owned Petrosen. There have been reports that a player from the United Arab Emirates may soon wrap up a deal to acquire some of Kosmos’ interest in the asset.

Valaris DS-12 is now mobilising to drill the Orca-1 exploration well in Mauritania.

This prospect is located on the same structural trend as BP’s four-year-old BirAllah discovery, with the well expected to target a gross resource in place of around 13 Tcf.

According to a recent presentation, Kosmos estimated in-place resources in the wider BirAllah at between 12 Tcf and 65 Tcf.

BirAllah (formally known as Marsouin) is located in Block C8, about 60 kilometres north of the Ahmeyim discovery.

The discovery well was drilled to a total depth of 5150 metres in nearly 2400 metres of water.

Based on analysis of drilling results and logging data, Marsouin-1 hit at least 70 metres of net gas pay in Upper and Lower Cenomanian intervals with excellent quality reservoir sands, said Kosmos previously.