Arbitration awards Kosmos Energy Senegal LNG project to BP, as the sole purchaser

Kosmos Energy announced on Tuesday that a Paris arbitrator ruled in favor of BP, preventing Kosmos to sell liquefied gas from the Greater Tortue project off Senegal and Mauritania.

LNG is a key part of BP's energy transition strategy. Energy major BP has established a significant LNG pipeline across the globe, including Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, Angola Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea are already shipping significant volumes.

The International Chamber of Commerce was asked to arbitrate a dispute between Kosmos Energy (a U.S. listed oil and gas exploration firm) and BP Gas Marketing (a BP subsidiary) over the planned LNG sales of Phase 1 of GTA.

Kosmos Energy Ltd said that the chamber informed it of a binding final award which prohibits the sale of LNG cargos by Kosmos to third parties for the duration the LNG Sales Agreement, which can end in 2033.

The statement stated that the final award did not alter the terms of LNG sale agreement, nor was it expected to impact Kosmos' financial and long-term expectations.

BP, with a 56% share in GTA is the project's operator and its subsidiary, the only buyer of the 2.5 million metric tons per year volume, under a contract of 20 years.

BP announced that the project would begin in the first quarter 2024, a little later than originally planned, and was 90% completed by November 2023.

Andrew Inglis, Kosmos' CEO, told BloombergNEF in London on Tuesday that the GTA should be launched by the end the year. Kosmos holds a 26,8% stake in the project.

BP, Shell, and other energy firms have been involved in a legal dispute with Venture Global LNG. They accuse the LNG producer that it has denied them and other customers the ability to access supplies, while exporting super-cooled gas worth more than $18 Billion, according to a document filed with U.S. regulatory agencies.

(source: Reuters)