LNG

Nigeria, the main oil, gas and LNG producer in sub-Saharan Africa, has been chosen to host the newly formed Africa Energy Bank (AEB) to boost investment in the Continent’s under-financed projects.

Kosmos Energy, the Dallas-based company with LNG interests in the West African nations of Senegal and Mauritania and a specialist company for offshore Atlantic Margins exploration and production, has made a successful start-up of oil production at the Winterfell development in the Green Canyon area of the US Gulf of Mexico.

Woodside Energy, the leading Western Australian liquefied natural gas plant operator with North West Shelf and Pluto LNG, has boosted the economic prospects of the West African nation of Senegal by achieving first oil from the Sangomar field, Senegal’s first offshore oil project. 

UK major BP said the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, a key component of the floating LNG development on the maritime border of Senegal and Mauritania in West Africa, has arrived at its final location.

Seatrium of Singapore, the shipyard engineering company with continuing liquefied natural gas project successes, reported a three-fold increase in annual revenues underpinned by LNG vessel deliveries to Greece and West Africa.

Seatrium of Singapore, a leader in LNG project and ship conversions as well as platforms for conventional oil and gas ventures, was awarded a contract by Shell Offshore to construct and integrate the hull, topsides and living quarters of the Sparta semi-submersible floating production unit (FPU) to be deployed in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Seatrium’s Shell contract includes the installation of Shell-furnished equipment and follows a letter of intent signed by both parties in August 2023.

The Sparta FPU will be situated in the Garden Banks area of the US Gulf of Mexico, about 275 kilometres (171 miles) off the coast of Louisiana.

Seatrium said the platform would feature a single topside bolstered by a four-column, semi-submersible floating hull and would be designed to produce 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

LNG record

Seatrium, formerly called Sembcorp Marine Ltd and renamed as Seatrium following its merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine, had previously in November 2023 successfully delivered the Greek “FSRU Alexandroupolis” to be deployed offshore northeast Greece as part of a Balkans LNG supply hub.

The Singaporean company also in November handed over the LNG production unit for the BP-led FLNG project offshore Senegal and Mauritanian in West Africa and also involving Dallas-based Kosmos Energy.

Analysts note that the combined Seatrium group is becoming better known in marketing terms as a single unit and provider of engineering solutions to the marine, offshore and energy sectors, particularly in assembling topsides safely and efficiently at ground level.

Seatrium said that the two-level topside for Sparta would be integrated and lifted to the hull using Seatrium’s Goliath twin cranes capable of lifting up to 30,000 tonnes.

“We are deeply honoured that Shell has awarded Sparta, the third FPU newbuild, to Seatrium, following the successful deliveries of the Vito and Whale FPUs,” said
William Gu, Executive Vice President and Head of Oil & Gas International at Seatrium.

Affirmation

“It is a strong affirmation of our team’s capabilities and the long-standing partnership between both parties. We are fully committed to executing the project well, including the single lift operation and fabrication of the FPU to meet its 20,000-psi design for use in harsh weather conditions, and delivering the unit to Shell safely and efficiently,” Gu explained.

Seatrium added that the Sparta FPU was conceived as a replicable project between Shell and Seatrium to leverage the group’s topsides single lift integration methodology, following the Vito and Whale newbuilds.

“With an extensive experience in complex offshore projects, Seatrium is well-positioned and equipped with cutting-edge technology to deliver high-quality engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning (EPIC) services for fixed and floating production platforms and subsea developments,” the company stated.

Woodside Energy, the operator of the Northwest Shelf and Pluto LNG plants in Western Australia, has received a boost for one of its main overseas ventures, the Sangomar project offshore Senegal in West Africa, with the sail-away from Singapore of the “Léopold Sédar Senghor” floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility.

Côte d'Ivoire has celebrated the ramp-up of the Baleine oil and gas field as part of a world-class hub of oil, pipeline natural gas and LNG exports and imports being built out to improve economic prosperity in West Africa from Mauritania in the North to Angola in the South.

The President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, and Claudio Descalzi, the Chief Executive of Italian major Eni, met in the African nation’s economic capital, Abidjan, to mark the production ramp-up at the Baleine field.

The Baleine project is offshore block CI-101 and is believed to hold up to 2.0 billion barrels of oil in place and 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas located at water depth of 1,200 metres.

Largest discovery

Baleine was discovered in 2021 as the largest commercial discovery in the country in the last 20 years and is now set to contribute substantially to energy production in the Côte d'Ivoire after starting production in September.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s regional neighbours to the North, Senegal and Mauritania, are currently developing floating LNG projects, while among its southern neighbours, Nigeria is an established world-scale LNG and oil exporting nation, while Cameroon has a small FLNG project in operation, Ghana plans LNG imports and Angola is a major oil and gas nation.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s mainly oil production has varied significantly over the past two decades as existing fields have become depleted, closed for maintenance or development works and as new discoveries have been made but have needed further investment and development.

Eni’s partner in the Baleine project and other ventures is the African nation's state energy company, Société Nationale d'Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d'Ivoire (Petroci).

In addition to the CI-101 block, Eni owns stakes in four other blocks in the Ivorian deepwater. They are CI-205, CI-501, CI-504 and CI-802, all with the same partner Petroci.

Output

“Oil production from Baleine stands at 20,000 barrels per day, far exceeding the initial anticipated 12,000 barrels per day,” Eni explained.

“The project is set to reach its plateau of 50,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of 2024. Upon completion of the second development phase and full field development it is then  expected to enable the production of up to 150,000 barrels per day,” Eni added.

“Baleine's gas production is entirely destined for the domestic market, strengthening access to energy in Côte d'Ivoire,” stated the Milan-based company.

Eni said that the meeting between President Ouattara and CEO Descalzi covered other initiatives that Eni is carrying out to advance economic diversification in addition to contributing to the country's energy needs and prosperity.

Bio-refineries

“Among these, it is worth mentioning the production of vegetable oil to supply Eni’s bio-refineries, an operation that recently began in Côte d'Ivoire and which leverages waste from rubber production,” CEO Descalzi explained.

“This project will feed our bio-refineries with sustainable feedstock, while at the same time integrating Côte d'Ivoire in the value chain of biofuels, generating a positive impact for the families of local farmers with whom we collaborate through long-term agreements,” Descalzi stated.

“This initiative offers additional income for 100,000 families that have already joined the program,” he added.

Seatrium Group of Singapore, formerly called Sembcorp Marine Ltd and renamed as Seatrium following its merger with Keppel Offshore & Marine, has successfully delivered the converted floating LNG production vessel for the BP-led FLNG project offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

Kosmos Energy, the Dallas-based oil and gas exploration and production company with assets in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa, has posted solid earnings and plans a new LNG export project from the Yakaar-Teranga gas fields offshore Senegal in addition to the ongoing FLNG ventures based on the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim resources shared between Senegal and Mauritania.