Energy in Mauritania: Any prospects for developing partnership with Senegal in the field of gas?

The challenge facing Mauritania in the field of gas export in the future is not the ability for continuity and systematic development, but rather the ability to be in harmony with the rhythm of the current international situation and to benefit from and invest resources, as well as the security challenge in the sub-region.

It is expected that the end of next year 2023 will witness a transformation of a qualitative nature for a country like Mauritania. It is expected that a new stage will begin in a field that it has not been familiar with before, which is the extraction and production of liquefied gas, which will certainly not be like the rest of the extractive fields for several factors, the least of which may not be the factor that the country, which connects the Maghreb region to West Africa, will benefit from. Energy Economy.

Mauritania, which is classified among the poorest and underdeveloped third world countries, has been working for more than five years on a joint gas project between it and neighboring Senegal, known as the “Great Turtle Ahmaim Field”. out of four wells, drilling had begun on April 17, 2022; The field contains twelve wells that will be worked on to extract natural gas. According to official estimates, the field’s annual production will reach 2.5 million tons in its first phase, and it is expected that the development of the second phase of the project will begin between 2026 and 2027, bringing the annual extraction rate to six million tons, and in the thirteenth phase, thirteen million tons annually (1) .

Partnership with Senegal: What is the benefit for both countries?

Due to the location of the joint field between the two countries within the territorial waters ( offshore ), the two governments signed an agreement to be participatory exploitation with the American companies “Kosmos Energy” and “British Petroleum” , which is the estimated gas reserves. With 450 billion cubic meters, a partnership that the two countries consider will strengthen brotherly relations and improve cooperation between them, in addition to the technical and commercial development of the common field.

It is expected that Mauritania’s annual revenues from the turtle field will be in the range of $100 million annually in its first phase, which will develop over the next thirty years. It is also expected that the partnership of the two countries with the two exploiting companies will be positively reflected in joint development and optimal exploitation, despite the drawbacks of observers.

The Mauritanians are looking for gas extraction to be the beginning of economic development and what this means is a reflection on the general economic, political and security conditions and on the position of the state in the region and the region. But the specter of mismanagement, corruption, and imbalances in good governance continue to impede the path of progress and development in the minds before the field, exacerbated by statements attributed to the Minister of Economic Affairs and the promotion of productive sectors in the country. Where he said: The country cannot rely on non-renewable wealth (2) , in reference to the expected returns from the joint gas field project, justifying that many countries in the world have collected large sums of money from oil, but invested in other things to diversify their sources after realizing that The future of the economy is no longer in favor of oil.

If the revenues of the gas field in its first phase are expected to be on the Mauritanian treasury, an estimated amount of $100 million annually; The question posed by most analysts and media professionals is: Will the Mauritanians hope to see the country’s economy improve and grow? Will this “boom” in the extractive industries sector lift thousands of young people out of the specter of unemployment that haunts more than 30% of them, according to official figures?

The start of extraction will certainly make Mauritania the focus of the attention of gas importing countries, especially in Europe close to the Mauritanian shores, which have become increasingly in need of African gas supplies in general after Russia stopped pumping gas to Europe, and there is no doubt that this will make Mauritania and its partner, Senegal, in The heart of the international strategic directions in the field of energy.

Gas reserves in Mauritania’s beaches and fields

Ahmaim is not the only field discovered on the Mauritanian shores, although its reserves reach 450 billion cubic metres. Rather, the Bir Allah field, located in the eighth section of the Mauritanian coastal basin, which does not enter the waters shared between the two neighbors, Mauritania and Senegal, is the giant of private gas fields. The Mauritanian waters, which have reserves of 80 trillion cubic feet of liquefied gas, represent 10% of African reserves (3) .

It is expected that the Bir Allah field will be exploited for more than three decades, starting from 2028, but with cooperation between a Mauritanian company, the Mauritanian for fuels, and “Kosmos Energy and British Petroleum.” Expectations are that the Birallah field’s reserves may make the country in It is ranked third in Africa after Nigeria and Algeria.

However, the Ahmaim and Bir Allah fields are not the only ones in Mauritania; The country has known fields described as shy, including the “Panda” field, whose reserves were estimated in 2002 at 1.2 trillion cubic feet, and the “Belkan” field of 1.6 cubic feet (4) .

The ability to optimally exploit under the specter of management and greed

As for the post-extraction stage, the Mauritanian authorities plan to benefit from Bir Allah through the port of Ingaku in the south of the country, and expect greater benefit from it, given that it is on land and not in the deep sea ( offshore ), as is the case in the Ahmaim Turtle field, which is exploited through a number of mechanisms, including Breakers and pipelines for extracting liquefied gas, and from exporting it directly before it reaches one of the country’s ports, which have several ports, including the Friendship Port in Nouakchott, the port of Nouadhibou, the economic capital, and the port of Ingaku in the state of Tarra in the southwest of the country.

Mauritania’s entry into the field of energy and its export of gas to Europe will pave the way for major transformations, which means the need to review the policies of some countries in the region, as the race to win the favor of Nouakchott has begun by opening consulates and embassies, and consolidating bilateral relations with them. Britain inaugurated its first embassy in Nouakchott in 2018, since the two countries established a friendship of partnership in the 1960s.

This coincides with the high level of attendance of British companies investing in the Mauritanian economy, especially after Shell and BP strongly entered the gas sector, and BP’s investment of one billion US dollars in the Ahmaim field alone is an indication of the extent of interest British energy reserves in Mauritania.

Nouakchott is well aware of this situation and its repercussions on its international relations, especially since it was keen – it seems to the observer – to maintain its relations with France, a European country with a colonial heritage and a strong presence in Mauritania and Senegal. Despite the tensions and conflicts that are hovering around Mauritania, and even around West Africa in general, Mauritania and Senegal fear the spillover of regional conflicts and the impact of armed groups that are very active in the Sahel, especially in the north of the Republic of Mali, bordering both Mauritania and Senegal, on these promising energy projects. Which needs a stable security environment.

Mauritanian energy and parallel regional projects

Geographically far from Mauritania, planning for a huge project to supply liquefied gas to Europe by pipelines began. This project was crystallized and made public.

There, thousands of kilometers from the Ahmaim-Selfa major and Birallah fields, which are huge for Mauritania, the Kingdom of Morocco, the northern neighbor of Mauritania, began planning to launch the Nigerian gas pipeline project towards Europe, and the pipelines of the project will pass through fifteen coastal African countries, namely: Benin, Togo, Liberia, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Namibia, Senegal and Mauritania, to put the rotating stick in Morocco, and from there it will be linked to Cadiz, Spain, and from there to the rest of the Union countries, at a distance of 5,660 km (5) .

And recently, Nigeria announced that the National Petroleum Corporation “NNPC” had agreed to implement the deal to extend pipelines to Europe via Morocco, but this was not the beginning of the project. Whereas four years ago, on a visit to Abuja, the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, and the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, agreed to move forward with the project that is taking its way across the Atlantic after they signed a preliminary agreement in the summer of 2016. At an important and bold risk for Morocco Abuja, who declares his strong desire to enter the field of fossil energy, says that the project is a tripartite cooperation between it, Rabat and the Economic Community of West African States “ECOWAS”. Nigeria, which is one of the largest oil and gas producers in Africa, has entered the design phase, with the three parties being discreet over the implementation period and cost (6) .

But it is certain that Rabat is seeking to secure sources of natural gas after Algeria suspended work on a gas pipeline that reaches Spain via Morocco due to the old and renewed political and security tensions between the two rival neighbors: Morocco and Algeria. Rabat was charging transit fees, along with quantities of gas for the purpose of local use.

A similar three-polar project was also announced between Nigeria on the one hand and Niger and Algeria on the other, and talks were held about it to cross the Sahara region, and materialize as soon as possible after the basic building blocks for it were laid according to the Algerian Ministry of Energy (7) .

In fact, the observer of the issue of energy in West Africa, especially the announced discoveries between Mauritania and Senegal, that their exploitation has begun, can only feel the impact of what is taking place in the arena of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and what Russia announced to stop pumping its gas to Europe in this region . There are rapid steps and a fierce race from the countries of the region towards exporting gas and energy transformation, which makes some of them of great interest, especially if they prove their ability to compensate for and replace previous sources of material.

But another challenge may arise for new exporters looming on the horizon, and it will not only be the ability to continue and systematic and planned development, but the ability to be in harmony with the rhythm of the current international situation and to maintain and raise its status, and the ability to benefit from and invest resources; For a country like Mauritania, this may be the biggest challenge added to the security challenge in the semi-region that it shares with its neighbors, albeit at a less severe pace.

Conclusion

It can be said that the fascination with the energetic discoveries may dim its flash and turn into a curse if it is not kept pace with the development of proactive perceptions of its consequences, and the geopolitical and strategic transformations that may result from it, and the development opportunities it can create if seized. For some West African countries, the gas export race to Europe remains not arbitrary or coincidental, but rather carries within it historical and sovereign struggles to impose a position that LNG may enhance or lose.

About the author

Abdullah Ali

Mauritanian media.REFERENCE

(1)The Great Turtle Project/Ahmim: What are its implications for our economy? Info news website, March 20, 2022, (accessed September 1, 2022): https://alakhbar.info/?q=node/39254

(2)Speaking about gas, the Minister of Economy: We cannot rely on “wealth that does not renew,” Sahara Media, April 14, 2022, (entry date: August 31, 2022): https://bit.ly/3qbI8oi

(3)American Cosmos Energy announces preparations to sign the production-sharing contract for the “Birallah” gas field in Mauritania, Al-Alam Info, August 10, 2022, (access date: September 1, 2022):   http://elalem.info/article10780.html

(4)Promising fortunes and huge reserves.. What do you know about natural gas fields in Mauritania?, Al Jazeera Net, March 16, 2022, (entry date: August 30, 2022):   https://bit.ly/3cM49ag

(5)Abuja gives initial approval for a project to build a gas pipeline between Nigeria and Morocco, France 24, June 2, 2022, (access date: August 30, 2022):   https://bit.ly/3CXyehU

(6)Nigeria plans to extend gas pipeline to Europe via Morocco, BBC, 3 June 2022, (access date: 2 September 2022):   https://bbc.in/3D0MO8b

(7)Algeria, Nigeria and Niger are discussing the construction of a gas pipeline to Europe, swissinfo, July 28, 2022, (access date: September 1, 2022):   https://bit.ly/3enxwA0