Woodside advances Sangomar project with FPSO sail away

In a significant milestone for the Sangomar project, Australia's Woodside Energy on December 27 announced the successful sail away from Singapore of the Leopold Sedar Senghor floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility.

The FPSO, named after Senegal's first president, is en route to its final destination, approximately 100 km offshore Dakar, covering 12,000 nautical miles. Originally a very large crude carrier, the FPSO underwent a conversion process by Japan's MODEC to ensure it meets the specific requirements of the Sangomar project.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said, “We are targeting first oil from Sangomar in mid-2024. The FPSO sail away reaffirms Woodside’s commitment to Senegal and its future development and prosperity.”

Although primarily an oil production project, Woodside also envisions exporting commercial quantities of natural gas to the shore. Woodside completed the acquisition of the entire participating interest of Sydney-listed Far in the RSSD joint venture in early July 2021.

In July this year, the company announced an increase in costs and a revised schedule for the project.