Texas-based Excelerate Energy has been selected by UK-based exploration firm Ophir Energy to lead a consortium to build Africa’s first newbuild, open seas FLNG project.
Excelerate will lead a consortium of technology providers charged with providing floating liquefaction and storage facilities for Ophir’s FLNG project offshore Equatorial Guinea.
The consortium is expected to include Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and US-based engineering consultancy firm Black & Veatch.
The development would be Africa’s first newbuild, open seas FLNG project, according to Ophir, which is also working with Statoil, offshore Tanzania, to development major gas discoveries there.
The project will see the development of Ophir-operated assets in Block R, containing some 3.4Tcf estimated mean recovered resources, in 600-1950m water depth, in the southeastern part of the Niger Delta, offshore Equatorial Guinea, close to Nigeria.
Excelerate’s selection follows Ophir’s signing of a production sharing agreement with the government of Equatorial Guinea earlier this week. The agreement set out the gas fiscal terms for the Fortuna FLNG project.
The project is expected to see Block R developed through a four-phase development that will start with the development of the Fortuna field. Additional volumes (1.2Tcf from the Silenus Complex, 0.5Tcf from Tonel and 0.4Tcf from other smaller discoveries) will, in turn, form the later phases of the development.
A full front end engineering and design contract is expected to be announced later this year. Final investment decision is expected in 2016 and first gas in 2019.
Excelerate’s selection was agreed through a memorandum of understanding being signed today (6 November) between the EquatoGuinean Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy (MMIE), national oil firm GEPetrol, which holds a 20% stake in the license, Ophir (80%), and Excelerate.
Excelerate, based in Woodlands, was founded in 2003 and was involved in the delivery of the world’s first floating storage regasification unit, Excelsior.
Nick Cooper, Ophir’s CEO, said: “I’m delighted to announce the appointment of the Excelerate consortium as our midstream partners for the Block R FLNG Project. The recent newsflow on the Equatorial Guinea FLNG Project demonstrates its commercial viability and moves it further up the value curve ahead of a planned farm down in 2015. The selection of Excelerate and partners follows a comprehensive evaluation process. The Excelerate consortium has deep sector expertise and a leading position in marine based LNG applications. Ophir looks forward to working with Excelerate and our partners in Equatorial Guinea to deliver Africa’s first newbuild, open seas FLNG project.”
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