Mauritania-Senegal: Ahmeim Gas Field is a Successful Model of Cooperation

There is no doubt that bilateral cooperation and economic partnership between Mauritania and Senegal has entered its golden age with the joint exploitation agreement through the major BP of the large Ahmeim gas field, which is eagerly awaited to be produced in international markets.

There is also no doubt that this economic file, which needs some scrutiny, will be one of the topics of discussion between His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh EL Ghazouani, and his Senegalese counterpart, His Excellency Mr. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is beginning today a visit of friendship and work to our country.

So 2024 is the year that for both countries will be the year of gas production, unless it is postponed. The field, discovered in 2015, marks the beginning of a profound transformation in the economies of these two countries, which have decided to join forces in the entire process leading to the production and marketing of the gas of the Great Ahmeim field.

These gas discoveries have made Mauritania one of the preferred destinations for foreign investors, and some countries, such as the United Kingdom, have opened their embassy in Nouakchott to promote promising diplomatic and economic ties.

The Ministry of Petroleum, Mines and Energy explained some time ago in a document entitled: “Elements on the Energy Strategy, the hydrocarbon part”, in figures Birallah reserves 80 trillion cubic feet, and Mauritania’s gas reserves are 20 trillion cubic feet. These are world-class gas reserves that justify large-scale development (LNG, petrochemicals, etc.), with potential in the coastal basin that in the very near future will give greater visibility to other players in the sector such as Total and Shell for example.

After €5 billion of investments and six years of development, the exploitation of the large Ahmeim field, scheduled for 2024, producing 2.5 million tons of gas per year, is eagerly awaited, and this figure, according to forecasts, will rise to 5 million tons in 2027 and 10 million tons in 2030.

The discovery of major gas deposits off the coasts of Mauritania and Senegal has unleashed emotions as people already live “gas dreams” every night, counting the weeks and months until the big day BP and Cosmos Energy will announce the marketing of the first natural gas production in the global gas zone that is now in full development.

Mauritania and Senegal have high hopes for this gas field to reinvest the financial resources it will provide, on the economic development of Mauritania and Senegal, especially in infrastructure, education and health.

British Petroleum, the giant that has been leading the project since its agreement with Cosmos, plans to use this new African base to catch up with its main rivals Shell and Total, which are betting on an explosion in the LNG market after buying the largest stake in the project from US company Cosmos Energy in December 2016, discovering the field.

The British company says it has invested more than a billion dollars in the first phase of the project and plans to invest “several billion more” in the later phases, over 30 years of its operating life.

It is these huge sums that fuel the hopes of the populations of Mauritania and Senegal, while the governments of the two countries remain cautious, knowing full well that the hydrocarbon sector is subject to volatile external and internal factors, although the clearly stated goal is to benefit from the gas boom, but also to avoid the “raw material curse” that often afflicts new producing countries and whose symptoms are dependence on the extraction sector and poor management.