Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE: KOS) said on March 16 it had made a fourth significant gas find in an offshore structure spanning Mauritania and Senegal and will seek to commercialize the resources by developing a "world scale" LNG project.

The discovery follows other drilling successes in the frontier basin off the northern coast of West Africa, one of the few remaining areas on the continent where oil and gas firms are still investing and exploring after a price tumble.

"Our Ahmeyim-2 appraisal well offshore Mauritania discovered a significant amount of gas and builds on our previous success in the basin, proving there's sufficient resource for a world-scale LNG development," said Thomas Golembeski, vice president of corporate communications.

He did not say which type of gas project the New York-listed firm will pursue, adding only that it would provide international exports and domestic supply to the two countries.

Kosmos already has a memorandum of understanding with both governments and this is expected to provide the basis for a formal agreement on gas commercialization.

The latest discovery has also boosted hopes for oil finds in the basin. Kosmos will begin drilling its first of three new wells in Senegal within "several weeks", Golembeski added.

Offshore