Last checked at 
(Adds detail on Kosmos Energy, comment from BP)
April 7 (Reuters) - Golar LNG Ltd said on Tuesday
it received a force majeure notice from a BP unit seeking
to delay by a year receipt of a floating liquefied natural gas
facility for the African Tortue Ahmeyim project.
The notice is the latest force majeure claim issued in the
LNG sector that is struggling with a seasonal plunge in demand
as well as the spread of the coronavirus, which has further
hammered the consumption of the super-chilled fuel globally.
BP is expecting a one-year delay due to the pandemic and
currently sees no possibility for reducing that time frame,
according to a statement from Golar's unit Gimi MS Corp.
BP was expected to take delivery of the facility in 2022 and
charter it for 20 years to liquefy gas from its Greater Tortue
Ahmeyim project on the maritime border between Mauritania and
Senegal.
"While the full impact cannot yet be determined, as a
reasonable and prudent operator, BP is engaging transparently
and collaboratively with key stakeholders to mitigate risks," a
BP spokesman said.
"This includes issuing a Force Majeure (FM) notice to Golar
in line with the terms of the lease and operate agreement dated
26 Feb 2019. This is a direct result of the ongoing business
impacts due to COVID-19(disease caused by the new coronavirus)."
Golar said it was in talks with BP to establish the duration
of the delay and the extent to which this has been caused by the
coronavirus outbreak.
Kosmos Energy owns around 28% of the project, for
which first gas is projected to start flowing in the first half
of 2023, but it has said it wants to reduce its stake to around
10%.
The plant is designed to produce an average of about 2.5
million tonnes of LNG per annum. The construction of the
floating facility was expected to cost about $1.3 billion,
excluding financing costs.
Golar also said it was talking to its main building
contractor, Keppel Shipyard Ltd, to re-schedule activities to
reduce its capital spending commitments for 2020 and 2021.
Companies invoke force majeure when they cannot meet their
contractual obligations because of circumstances beyond their
control.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru, additional reporting
by Shadia Nasralla in London; Editing by Anil D'Silva and
Alexandra Hudson)
