A gas leak has been detected at the bp-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project offshore Senegal and Mauritania.
BP has stated that the environmental impact from the leak is expected to be negligible and that production activities will not be disrupted, reported Reuters.
“As part of a planned commissioning test, we discovered low-rate subsea gas bubbles at the GTA A02 well. We have a plan to stop the bubbles,” bp said.
Mauritania’s Environment Ministry has announced it is conducting in-depth investigations to manage the situation effectively and prevent any environmental impact.
This is being done in collaboration with the country’s oil and fisheries ministries and Senegalese authorities.
Mauritania’s Oil Ministry Adviser Ahmed Vall Ould Mohameden noted that such incidents are typical during the early stages of production.
“Last week a plane carrying equipment to plug the leak was sent to the site to repair it,” Mohameden said.
The GTA project is jointly developed by bp and US-listed Kosmos Energy.
The Tortue field is estimated to contain 15 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas resource potential.
BP is reviewing concept options for future development phases at the basin, which is thought to contain up to 100tcf of gas.
The GTA project is expected to produce 2.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year in its first phase. Kosmos Energy began LNG production at the GTA project last month.
The first gas from the GTA project began flowing from wells to a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel on 31 December last year.
At the FPSO, the gas is processed to remove condensate, water and impurities before being sent to a floating LNG vessel for liquefaction.
The project is currently preparing to dispatch its first shipment of LNG, expected later this quarter.
