Energy giant BP has begun legal action against US subsea and deepwater engineering construction company McDermott, demanding compensation from McDermott for damages caused by its failure to meet its contractual obligations at the Greater Torgue Ahmeyim project, a cross-border offshore gas project.
The news was disclosed by Kosmos Energy, BP's partner in the Greater Torgue Ahmeyim project, in its fourth-quarter earnings report, which said that the subsea costs of the first phase of the Greater Torgue Ahmeyim project were unexpected, necessitating the replacement of the project's subsea pipeline builder from McDermott to Allseas.
Kosmos Energy estimates that its share of compensation would be as high as 1600 million US dollars (about 11. yuan.)$5.2 billion), which is exactly the result of the claim that the company is pursuing. Depending on the proportion of the shareholder's shares, BP's compensation can be as high as 53.4 billion US dollars (about 38.8 billion yuan.)4.4 billion yuan).
It is understood that BP awarded McDermott and Baker Hughes contracts in 2019 for subsea umbilicals, risers, fluid lines and subsea production system equipment for the Greater Torgue Ahmeyim project. Under the contract, McDermott was supposed to deploy the pipe-laying vessel "Amazon" and other offshore construction vessels to complete the project, but McDermott halted construction work on the project due to a payment dispute with BP.
BP then sought "rescue" from Allseas and awarded it a contract in October last year to take charge of the subsea pipelaying operations at the Greater Torgue Ahmeyim project. Allseas will deploy the large construction vessel "Pioneering Spirit" to complete the pipe-laying works, which will be coordinated by the offshore construction support vessel "Oceanic". The contract includes the installation of pipelines in waters between 1,500 and 2,800 meters and 2,800 meters in water depths.
It is reported that the Greater Torgue Ahmeyim project is located on the maritime border between Mauritania and Senegal and is a natural gas field with 30-year production potential, with an estimated annual gas production of about 2.5 million tons in the initial stage. The project is estimated to have a potentially recoverable natural gas resource of more than 15 TCF.