A gas leak has been detected at the BP-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) gas project, located offshore Senegal and Mauritania.

The incident occurred during planned commissioning tests at the GTA A02 well, where low-rate subsea gas bubbles were discovered.

BP has issued a statement indicating that the environmental impact from the leak is expected to be negligible, with no anticipated disruption to production activities.

“As part of a planned commissioning test, we discovered low-rate subsea gas bubbles at the GTA A02 well.

“We have a plan to stop the bubbles,” the company stated.

In response to the incident, Mauritania’s Environment Ministry has announced a collaborative effort with the country’s oil and fisheries ministries, as well as Senegalese authorities, to conduct in-depth investigations.

The aim is to effectively manage the situation and prevent any potential environmental impact.

Ahmed Vall Ould Mohameden, Advisor to Mauritania’s Oil Ministry, commented that such incidents are not uncommon during the initial stages of production.

He added: “Last week a plane carrying equipment to plug the leak was sent to the site to repair it.”

The GTA project, jointly developed by BP and US-listed Kosmos Energy, is tapping into the Tortue field, which holds an estimated 15 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable gas resource potential.

BP is reportedly reviewing concept options for future development phases in the basin, which is estimated to contain up to 100 tcf of gas.

The GTA project is slated to produce 2.3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year during its first phase. Kosmos Energy commenced LNG production at the GTA project last month.

First gas from the project began flowing from wells to a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel on December 31 of last year.

At the FPSO, the gas undergoes processing to remove condensate, water, and impurities before being transferred to a floating LNG vessel for liquefaction.

The project is currently preparing to dispatch its first shipment of LNG, expected later this quarter.