BP and its partners in the cross-border Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project have added to resources at the field with the latest well hitting gas pay, according to project partner Kosmos Energy.

Dallas-based Kosmos said July 1 the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim-1, drilled to a total depth of 4,884 m (16,024 ft) with a water depth of about 2,500 m (8,202 ft), hit 30 m (98 ft) of net gas pay in high-quality Albian reservoir. The well was drilled by the Ensco DS-12 rig on the eastern anticline of the Greater Tortue area offshore Senegal.

The discovery comes about four years after Kosmos made the play-opening gas discovery with the Tortue-1 exploration well, which encountered 107 m (351 ft) of pay. The find set the company and partners on the path toward their 10 million ton per annum LNG project.

The project, according to Kosmos, is on schedule for startup in first-half 2022. Other partners include SMPHM and Petrosen.

The latest well, designed as a future producer, “will be used to further optimize the development drilling plans for the BP-operated project,” Kosmos said in the release.

“The GTA-1 well confirms our expectation that the gas resource at Greater Tortue Ahmeyim will continue to grow over time and could lead to further expansion of this world-scale 10 MTPA LNG project,” Kosmos Energy CEO Andrew Inglis said in a statement.

The rig will now move on to drill the BP-operated Yakaar-2 appraisal well in Senegal, according to the release. From there, it will spud the Orca-1 exploration well in Mauritania.

“In addition, Kosmos’ process to sell down its interest to 10% has received considerable interest from the industry, with initial bids expected over the summer, and transaction conclusion anticipated by year-end,” Inglis said.

Analysts with CapitalOne Securities Inc. viewed the latest news as positive.

Referencing a previous note, analysts said “the planned monetization could generate proceeds valued at about 40% of [Kosmos’] current $2.5 billion [market] cap.”

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