Eiffage Génie Civil Marine have completed the central platform of the hub for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) LNG project, offshore Mauritania and Senegal.
The platform consists of more than 3,200 tonnes of metal and 22 prefabricated concrete parts. BP is the operator of the project, which also involves Kosmos Energy.
Eiffage said it had supplied the equipment via its marine base in Dakar. The company has a fleet of 15 vessels, including a 300-bed flotel.
Eiffage said it had worked closely with Saipem in order to ensure safety and scheduling.
Local workers made up more than 75% of the work team. For most of these, Eiffage said, it was their first time working offshore.
The company completed the manufacturing of the 21 caissons in February. These massive blocks will provide protection for the floating LNG (FLNG) facility offshore. It installed the first caisson in July 2021.
The platform will be between the FLNG unit and the LNG tankers come to offtake volumes for export.
Construction of these caissons involved more than 130,000 cubic metres of concrete and 30,000 tonnes of steel. Each of the structures weighs around 16,000 tonnes.
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At the end of the first quarter, the GTA LNG project was around 75% complete. First gas from the 2.5 million tonne per year project is expected by late 2023.
BP has said that all major structures, pipelines and flexible productions should be installed by the end of this year.
The Valaris DS-12 rig is drilling the four wells for the project. It is contracted to BP from April this year through to December.
Reuters quoted advisor to the Senegalese project Mamadou Fall Kane as saying the government was keen for more LNG. “We are working to reach an FID by September for the phase two that should double expected production”, Kane said. This would bring total production to 5mn tpy.
Kosmos, in its first quarter presentation, said it expected to provide a development decision on a second phase of work at Tortue “around mid-year”. The companies are also working on development options at BirAllah and Yakaar-Teranga.