DAKAR, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Oil and gas explorer Kosmos Energy
said on Monday it had made one of the largest
discoveries of natural gas in recent years in waters offshore
Mauritania, where it sees the potential to extract 50 trillion
cubic feet of gas.
In view of the discovery at the Orca-1 well, Kosmos said it
had decided to extend the timeline to sell down its interest in
the area to next year.
"Orca-1, which we believe is the largest deepwater
hydrocarbon discovery in the world so far this year, further
demonstrates the world-scale quality of the Mauritania gas
basin," Kosmos Chief Executive Andrew Inglis said in a
statement.
The area off Mauritania and its neighbour Senegal in West
Africa is one of the most-watched basins in the world for gas
drilling and has attracted investments from companies such as
Australia's Woodside Energy and BP.
If exploited, such discoveries could transform the economies
of both nations, bringing much-needed revenues.
Kosmos had planned to sell down its interest in the
Mauritania-Senegal basin by the end of the year, but it will
extended its timeline to 2020, "giving potential bidders
additional time to analyze the new data", the company said.
The volume of gas potentially trapped in the area is equal
to around 8.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which could
make it one of the largest hydrocarbon discoveries in the world
since Italy's Eni discovered the 30 tcf Zohr gas field
offshore Egypt in 2015.
(Reporting by Edward McAllister; Writing by Anna Pujol-Mazzini;
Editing by Dale Hudson)
