The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project developed by BP and partners has produced its first gas from an offshore field in Senegal and Mauritania, the two countries' energy ministries said.
GTA, a floating facility straddling the maritime border between Senegal and Mauritania, in water depths of up to 2,850 metres, is expected to produce 2.3 million tonnes of LNG per year in its first phase.
"The opening of the first well ... paves the way for the start of gas commercialization, which is set to begin very soon," the ministries said in a statement on Tuesday.
BP and US-listed Kosmos Energy are leading the development of GTA, which is Senegal's first LNG project, and claim GTA is among the lowest cost greenfield projects in the world.
GTA is just one part of the significant acreage held by Kosmos, BP and partners offshore Mauritania and Senegal, which is thought to hold between 50 to 100 trillion cubic feet of gas resource potential. GTA alone is estimated to contain more than 15 trillion cubic feet of potentially recoverable gas resources.
(Reporting by Bate Felix; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrew Heavens)