BP Calls FM on Golar FLNG Vessel
Shipowner Golar LNG has had notification from UK BP that it is invoking force majeure in their floating LNG vessel agreement signed February 26, 2019, the company said April 7. It was due to start liquefying gas from the first phase of the Greater Tortue Area (GTA) project offshore Senegal and Mauritania in 2022 but this date has now slipped.
BP claims that the recent global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) means it will not able to be ready to receive the floating liquefied natural gas facility Gimi when agreed. In mid-March, partner Kosmos said it would cut capital spending this year by 30% and that it had been in talks with BP on the GTA area on deferring spending on the project. There is flexibility to do so, it said.
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BP estimates that the project will slip a year and says it does not have any means to mitigate or shorten the delay, Golar said. Golar has asked BP to clarify how a force majeure event discovered as recently as the end of March 2020 could immediately impact the schedule by an estimated one year.
Golar said it was "engaging in clarification and an active dialogue with BP to establish the duration of the delay and the extent to which this has been caused by the claimed force majeure event. However, in anticipation of a potential delay, the company has commenced discussions with its main building contractor, Keppel Shipyard , to re-schedule activities in order to reduce and reprofile its capital spending commitments for 2020 and 2021," it said.