Senegal inks $900m LNG and gas export financing with BP and Kosmos for Greater Tortue phase two

Senegal signed a $900 million financing agreement with BP and Kosmos Energy on Thursday to support the second phase of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim offshore LNG and gas export project shared with Mauritania. The funding aims to expand LNG export capacity and enable long-term gas supply to regional markets, positioning Senegal as an emerging global LNG exporter, officials said.

The financing agreement announced Thursday will support the expansion of liquefied natural gas export capacity from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) offshore gas field, a cross-border development shared between Senegal and Mauritania. The $900 million facility builds on the initial Phase 1 development, which reached a final investment decision in December 2018 and is expected to produce approximately 2.3 million tonnes of LNG per year once fully commissioned, according to project documents.

The GTA field covers approximately 13,500 square kilometers of offshore acreage in the maritime zone between the two countries and is estimated to contain more than 15 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas resources.

BP operates the GTA project and leads the development of LNG export infrastructure for both phases, with Kosmos Energy serving as a non-operating partner. Senegal’s national oil company, Société des Pétroles du Sénégal (PETROSEN), and Mauritania’s Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures (SMH) also hold participating interests, reflecting the intergovernmental cooperation framework governing the project. The Phase 2 financing is intended to scale up LNG export volumes beyond the baseline established by Phase 1, enabling long-term gas supply to regional markets and positioning Senegal and Mauritania as emerging global LNG exporters, officials said.

Across the broader acreage held by BP and partners in Mauritania and Senegal, gas resource potential is estimated between 50 and 100 tcf, underscoring the long-term development prospects for multiple phases beyond the current expansion, according to BP and Kosmos Energy statements.

Gas from the deepwater field is produced through a subsea system installed in water depths around 2,000 meters. The produced gas is processed on a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which was constructed in China and transported over 12,000 nautical miles to the field location. LNG is then transferred to a hub terminal where carriers berth for export to international markets. The Phase 2 expansion will build on this integrated system, adding incremental LNG trains or debottlenecking measures to increase export capacity, sources confirmed.

Senegal’s government, led by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, has recently intensified oversight of the energy sector and pursued policies aimed at revisiting resource contracts to secure better terms for the state. This includes revoking 71 mining licenses and freezing certain company accounts to enforce contract compliance, according to official communications. The government has emphasized that the GTA project is a flagship development expected to generate new revenue streams and support domestic economic plans. Oversight measures are intended to ensure that financing arrangements like the $900 million Phase 2 facility translate into tangible fiscal and development benefits for Senegal, officials said.

The GTA project has been featured in industry forums such as the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2026, where its technical and commercial model was presented, highlighting the multi-phase development potential. The cross-border design and scale position Senegal and Mauritania as a new LNG export hub on the Atlantic margin, targeting European and global markets seeking diversified gas supply, according to project literature.

The financial scale of GTA’s development reflects its resource potential. In 2017, BP acquired businessman Frank Timis’s stake in a Senegalese offshore gas field for $250 million, a transaction that later drew scrutiny over the size of subsequent royalty payments, as reported by BBC investigations. Documents indicate BP would pay Timis’s company between $9 billion and $12 billion in royalties over the project’s lifetime, although both parties denied wrongdoing. This precedent underscores the long-term payment structures associated with large gas projects in the region.

Phase 2’s $900 million financing forms part of a larger project finance and equity investment framework led by BP and partners. Legal and financial analyses of GTA’s earlier phases, including cross-border LNG project financing models, have been detailed in reports such as the 2020 PFI/Watson Farley & Williams legal review. These documents provide context for the risk allocation and governance structures underpinning the current expansion.

The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim development is governed by intergovernmental cooperation agreements between Senegal and Mauritania, alongside production-sharing and partnership agreements involving BP, Kosmos, PETROSEN, and SMH. The multi-phase project aims to leverage the extensive gas resource base to support both LNG exports and potential future regional gas supply initiatives, according to BP and Kosmos Energy.