BP makes largest gas discovery of the year

BP has announced a major gas discovery off the coast of Mauritania that has been rated as the largest of 2019.

According to Palzor Shenga, a senior analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team, BP’s find at Orca-1 offshore the African country is the deepest and largest discovery so far this year.

“Rystad Energy estimates Orca-1 holds around 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent of recoverable resources,” Shenga said.

Orca-1 was drilled about 7.5 kilometres from the crest of an anticline.

This is reported to have proved both the structural and stratigraphic trap types with the prospect, and is the second discovery in the northern part of the block.

The discovery lies in the MSGBC (Mauritania-Senegal-Gambia-Bissau-Conakry) basin.

Orca-1 is in line with BP’s strategy to build an additional LNG hub in the Bir Allah area.

Offshore has dominated exploration in the gas industry in 2019, both in terms of the number of discoveries and the volume of resources unearthed.

Rystad stated that Mauritania now ties Guyana for the second most discovered volumes this year, trailing close behind Russia’s 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

“This type of significant discovery, along with the projects lined up, could help establish the African nation as a major player and exporter in the industry,” Shenga said.

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