Claiming force majeure, BP plc’s BP Mauritania Investments Ltd. unit has notified Golar LNG Ltd. (GLNG) that it will not be ready to receive the Gimi floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility for an offshore West Africa project as planned in 2022, GLNG reported Tuesday.
According to a written statement from GLNG, BP contends the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak prevents it from commencing a charter of the FLNG Gimi under a 20-year lease and operate agreement (LOA) to service the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Keppel Offshore & Marine reported on April 17, 2019, that its Keppel Shipyard in Singapore had received final notice to proceed on the US$947 million conversion of a Moss LNG carrier into the FLNG Gimi from Golar’s Gimi MS Corp. subsidiary.
“BP estimates at this stage that the consequential delay caused by the claimed force majeure event is in the order of one year and that it is not currently possible to mitigate or shorten the delay,” GLNG stated Tuesday. “Golar has asked BP to clarify how a force majeure event discovered as recently as the end of March 2020 could immediately impact the schedule by an estimated one year.”
Although it is “engaging in clarification and an active dialogue with BP” to discuss the force majeure claim, GLNG noted that it has begun talks with Keppel Shipyard to re-schedule activities to “reduce and reprofile” its FLNG Gimi conversion capital spending requirements for this year and next.
The FLNG Gimi will be designed to produce approximately 2.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG and will apply Black & Veatch’s “Prico” liquefaction process, GLNG stated on Feb. 26, 2019.
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