Kosmos Expects FLNG Financing in 2018

Kosmos’ CEO has said that a final investment decision (FID) on its planned floating LNG project off northwest Africa will probably be taken in 2018.

Andrew Inglis told the Barclays Energy Power investors conference September 7 in New York that plans to develop the FLNG project, based on the Tortue gas field offshore Mauritania “would probably lead to an FID in 2018.” Earlier this year Kosmos spoke of FID in 2017 or even 2016. By holding off, 2017 could be used to explore potential oil resources on the outer flanks of the known gas discoveries and to select the “right farm-in partner”, he said.

“We see as much, probably larger, potential in the unexplored prospectivity that we are uncovering today, as we have in the discovered resource,” Inglis told investors. To date, the Greater Tortue gas resource is put at 25 trillion ft³ gross, of which the initial FLNG project would tap into the 8 trillion ft³ found at ‘Tortue West’ -- the first of five successful gas discoveries made by Kosmos in the area.

A site 8 km from shore on the Mauritania-Senegal offshore median line was agreed in June by the two governments for the FLNG project. Inglis said both are on target to reach an intergovernmental agreement for the project by end-2016.

An FID in 2018 most likely puts off the earliest that the FLNG project could be up and running until 2021/22, from the original target of 2020.

Mauritania's new petroleum minister Mohamed Abdel Vetah (right), while still head of Somagaz, met French ambassador Joel Meyer on March 1 2016 (photo credit: Agence Mauritanienne de l'Information)

Mauritania’s petroleum, energy and mines minister Mohamed Salem Ould Bechir was replaced on August 16 by 39-year-old Mohamed Abdel Vetah, general director since January of state-run Somagaz, the state-run LPG distributor; prior to that he was a consultant to Total and Sterling Energy.   

Mark Smedley