LNG

Kosmos Energy, the US-based shareholder in the floating liquefied natural gas joint venture offshore the West African nations of Mauritania and Senegal, has adjusted its shareholdings for the pre-emption rights of Tullow Oil plc of the UK after spending $550 million to acquire shareholdings in oil and gas fields offshore Ghana from Occidental Petroleum of the US.

Kosmos, a specialist in Atlantic Margin exploration and production and based in Dallas, Texas, had agreed in October 2021 to acquire an additional 18 percent interest in the Jubilee field and an additional 11 percent stake in the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) oil and gas fields offshore of Ghana.

Ghana National Petroleum Corp. (GNPC) was also acquiring stakes in the same fields from Occidental for $200M and will be the main partner of Kosmos.

The new Kosmos focus on Ghana comes as FLNG projects being developed with UK major BP offshore Mauritania and Senegal continue to progress, centred on the Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim gas fields.

The first Mauritania-Senegal FLNG production facility is scheduled to have first gas in early 2023.

Kosmos explained that in Ghana after execution of definitive transaction documentation and receipt of required government approvals, Kosmos and Tullow have now concluded their pre-emption transaction.

For another shareholder PetroSA of South Africa, the process is ongoing and remained subject to execution of definitive agreements and required government approvals.

Reductions

Following completion of the pre-emption by both Tullow and PetroSA, the ultimate interest of Kosmos will be reduced in Jubilee by 3.8 percent to 38.3 percent.

Under the changes Kosmos would retain 80 percent of the original acquired interest.

The ultimate Kosmos interest in the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme oil and gas fields offshore of Ghana will be reduced by 8.3 percent to 19.8 percent with Kosmos retaining 25 percent of the original acquired interest.

The consideration paid to Kosmos from Tullow after taking into account closing adjustments was around $118 million in the first quarter.

An additional $10M is expected to be payable on completion of the PetroSA pre-emption process and Kosmos plans to accelerate debt reduction with the proceeds.

The net 2022 production impact of the pre-emption exercise for Kosmos is a reduction of about 4,000 barrels of oil per day and is expected to result in one less Ghana cargo lifting this year and a reduction in 2022 capital expenditure of around $30M.

LNG progress

Kosmos said in its March 2022 earnings that the Mauritania-Senegal FLNG venture was 70 percent completed.

Both BP and Kosmos said the Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim LNG project had made steady progress in 2021.

All eight process modules have now been lifted onto the deck of the Floating Production Storage Offloading unit and mechanical completion of the process sub-systems was underway,

Construction was also completed of the 21st and final caisson of the breakwater and the subsea pipe-laying vessel completed its nautical trials in preparation for the offshore installation campaign in the second quarter of 2022.

Kosmos said that the FLNG hull had all four mixed-refrigerant compressors lifted onboard and pipe-rack installation operations had commenced.

Kosmos Energy, the main shareholder with BP of the UK in floating liquefied natural gas projects offshore Mauritania and Senegal in West Africa, said the latest well drilling in the Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim field may lead to an expansion of resource potential and estimates and to more LNG production.

Kosmos, based in Dallas, Texas, said its latest drilling in the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim-1 well (GTA-1), encountered approximately 30 metres of net gas pay in the high-quality Albian reservoir.

The Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim LNG project is on track to deliver first gas by mid-2022 and the well, which has been designed as a future producer, will be used to further optimize the development drilling plans for the BP-operated project.

“The GTA-1 well confirms our expectation that the gas resource at Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim will continue to grow over time and could lead to further expansion of this world-scale LNG project with 10 million tonnes per annum of production,” said Kosmos Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew G. Inglis.

“In addition, Kosmos’s process to sell down its interest to 10 percent has received considerable interest from the industry, with initial bids expected over the summer, and a transaction conclusion anticipated by year-end,” added Inglis.

Kosmos was the original successful explorer of the Senegal-Mauritania reserves and agreed to sell BP around 60 percent of the licences in 2016 with the UK major taking over operatorship.

The US company retained around 30 percent of the Senegal fields and licence and about 28 percent of the project’s Mauritania holdings.

Kosmos added that as of May 2019, all major contracts have been awarded for phase one of the project and construction activity has commenced with work on the floating production storage and offloading unit.

The latest contract was awarded in April 2019 to US engineering company KBR for the pre-front-end engineering and design services work for Phases 2 and 3 of the Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim venture.

The first gas from the Kosmos-BP FLNG Train 1 is scheduled for 2021 and the start of the second FLNG Train is set for 2023.

The GTA-1 well is located offshore Senegal and was drilled in 2,500 metres of water, about 10 kilometres from the Guembeul-1A and Tortue-1 wells, to a total depth of 4,884 metres.

Kosmos said that the “Ensco DS-12” rig, working on behalf of operator BP, will now drill the Yakaar-2 appraisal well in Senegal in the coming weeks, before drilling the Orca-1 exploration well in Mauritania late in the third quarter.

The other partners of BP and Kosmos in the cross-border Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim project include the national oil and gas companies of both countries.

Kosmos Energy, the Dallas-based company that made the natural gas discoveries to establish floating LNG export projects offshore Mauritania and Senegal, has announced a find in its home waters of the US Gulf of Mexico as it continues the sale process for parts of its African FLNG stakes.

The US Gulf oil find was in Gladden Deep, a sub-sea tie back which is expected to be brought online through the existing Gladden pipeline to the Medusa spar in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Kosmos said Gladden Deep was the first well of a four-well, infrastructure-led exploration program in the US Gulf for 2019.

“Kosmos will drill the Moneypenny prospect in the third quarter, followed by the Oldfield and Resolution prospects in the fourth quarter,” said Kosmos.

“These three prospects are collectively targeting around 100 million barrels of oil equivalent net to Kosmos,” it added.

Kosmos has an exploration program balanced between proven basin infrastructure-led exploration in Equatorial Guinea and the US Gulf while pushing forward with its Atlantic Margin activities in the emerging basins of Mauritania and Senegal in West Africa and in Suriname on the northeast coast of South America.

“Although Gladden Deep is the smallest prospect in this year’s drilling campaign, it is a prime example of our strategy in action, targeting high margin, high return barrels that can be quickly brought online through existing facilities,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Andy Inglis.

“This discovery continues the strong momentum we have seen in our Gulf of Mexico business unit, following the recent lease sale results and increased production from the Tornado-3 well coming online,” added Inglis.

The company is also exploring in frontier basins from Namibia in southwest Africa to the Ivory Coast in West Africa and offshore the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.

Kosmos revealed its intention in May 2019 to sell down its position in Mauritania and Senegal to around 10 percent and the sale process had “generated significant industry interest”, with formal bids expected to be tabled in the third quarter of 2019.

Kosmos made the Mauritania and Senegal discoveries and in 2016 and agreed to sell BP of the UK around 60 percent of the licences, while BP also took over operatorship.

The US company retained around 30 percent of the Senegal fields and licence and about 28 percent of the project’s Mauritania holdings.

As of early May, all major contracts had been awarded for phase one of the West African FLNG project and construction had started on a floating production storage and offloading unit.

The first gas from the Kosmos-BP FLNG Train 1 is scheduled for 2021 and the start of the second FLNG Train is set for 2023.

The Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim Project, the floating liquefied natural gas development offshore the maritime boundaries of Mauritania and Senegal, is making advances as shareholder Kosmos Energy prepares to sell some of its stake.

Baker Hughes-GE, the energy services company and LNG equipment supplier, reported sluggish first-quarter earnings even as it logged two important turbomachinery contracts for projects in West Africa and the US Gulf Coast.

US energy engineering company KBR was awarded the preliminary front-end engineering contract by BP of the UK for the second and third phases of the Tortue natural gas project being pursued with Kosmos Energy of the US that will underpin floating LNG production on the maritime border between the West African nations of Senegal and Mauritania.

Kosmos Energy, the US partner of BP in the Mauritania-Senegal floating LNG projects, has completed its acquisition for more than $1.22 billion of Deep Gulf Energy as it keeps faith in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico as other operators retreat to the US onshore shale basins.

Kosmos, based in Dallas, said it purchased Deep Gulf Energy to expand its assets in the Atlantic Margin exploration area of the most distant parts of the Gulf that can have similar deepwater challenges to offshore West Africa.

“By acquiring DGE, Kosmos adds to its deepwater Atlantic Margin portfolio an established business with attractive assets and a strong record of growing production and reserves through infrastructure-led exploration,” said Kosmos.

“This immediately accretive acquisition enhances the scale of the company and is expected to generate significant free cash flow,” added Kosmos.

Houston, Texas-based DGE was founded in 2005. The company has drilled 20 wells, 16 of which have been completed. The company achieved its first production in 2007 and the acquisition would add around 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of production for Kosmos.

Kosmos notes that while many competitors have been leaving the Gulf of Mexico to pursue onshore shale plays, their departures have created an opportunity to further open up the Gulf.

“The best deepwater assets can compete with the best of shale, and now is a good time to enter the Gulf of Mexico,” said Kosmos.

The completion of the DGE deal comes as Kosmos and BP are moving forward with contract awards for the Tortue-Ahmeyim natural gas project in the Atlantic Margin of Mauritania and Senegal that will underpin several FLNG ventures.

The Tortue-Ahmeyim project will produce gas from a deepwater subsea system and transfer it to an FLNG production facility at a nearshore hub located on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border.

The FLNG facility for Phase 1 is expected to deliver about 2.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG on average.

The full project will target 10 MTPA of LNG output as well as making gas available for domestic use in both Mauritania and Senegal.

First gas from the African project is expected in the first half of 2022.

Kosmos Energy, a main partner in the BP-led floating liquefied natural gas projects offshore Senegal and Mauritania in West Africa, has announced key management changes as its FLNG proposals move forward.

Doris Engineering, the French energy contracts company with global operations, said it was awarded an advisory contract by the Senegalese Ministry of Petroleum for developments offshore the West African nation, including a BP-run floating LNG project and an exploration and production venture operated by Australian LNG producer Woodside.

French energy major Total and the West African state of Mauritania have signed an agreement on two new exploration and production contracts near an area where natural gas has been discovered and is underpinning two floating LNG projects also involving Senegal.