Le champ gazier Birallah, la d\u00e9couverte de gaz la plus prometteuse dans le monde en 2019, est consid\u00e9r\u00e9, jusque-l\u00e0, comme l\u2019un des plus importants champs gaziers en Afrique de l\u2019Ouest. Il est la cons\u00e9cration des op\u00e9rations d\u2019exploration men\u00e9es par BP et Kosmos Energy en offshore depuis 2012 et qui ont abouti, \u00e9galement, \u00e0 la d\u00e9couverte de Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA), r\u00e9serves communes \u00e0 la Mauritanie et au S\u00e9n\u00e9gal et dont on attend, sauf impr\u00e9vu de derni\u00e8re minute, \u00ab the firs gas \u00bb en 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Les r\u00e9serves estim\u00e9es de BirAllah sont de l\u2019ordre de 50 trillions de TCF de gaz, confirm\u00e9es apr\u00e8s le forage de \u00ab Marsouin 1 \u00bb, en 2015, et de \u00ab Orca 1 \u00bb, en 2019, avec une profondeur d\u00e9passant les 2500 m\u00e8tres sous la mer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BirAllah gas field is located in Block 8 of the Mauritanian coastal basin, about 60 kilometres north of GTA, and about 100 kilometres from the Mauritanian coast, opposite the Ndiago area in the wilaya of Trarza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new exploration and production sharing contract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Block C8 containing the BirAllah field is one of four blocks for oil and gas exploration awarded by the Mauritanian government in 2012 to the US company Kosmos Energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the announcement of the major gas discoveries at GTA and BirAllah, British Petroleum (BP) acquired 60% of the blocks, making it the lead operator for the development and exploitation of the gas in these two fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the progress of work on the joint Mauritania-Senegal field (GTA), BP has chosen to suspend its development activities at BirAllah until the expiry of its operating licence in May 2022, which has made it necessary to restart the whole process in order to make it possible for the company and the Mauritanian government to continue cooperating on the development and exploitation of this important gas field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n C\u2019est dans ce cadre que le gouvernement mauritanien a approuv\u00e9, en juin 2022, le projet de d\u00e9cret autorisant l\u2019actualisation des donn\u00e9es du champ de BirAllah et son octroi, dans un nouveau contrat d\u2019exploration et de partage de production, pour sortir cette zone du domaine p\u00e9trolier, du processus d\u2019appel \u00e0 concurrence dont il est question dans l\u2019article 18 du Code des hydrocarbures bruts. Et c\u2019est en fonction de ces proc\u00e9dures qu\u2019un permis d\u2019exploration a \u00e9t\u00e9 octroy\u00e9, de nouveau, au duo BP\/Kosmos Energy, le 11 octobre 2022, suivant un nouvel accord d\u2019une dur\u00e9e de 30 mois. Cette dur\u00e9e est susceptible d\u2019\u00eatre suffisante pour mener les nouvelles \u00e9tudes pr\u00e9parant la signature de la d\u00e9cision finale d\u2019investissement et le d\u00e9marrage des travaux de d\u00e9veloppement et d\u2019exploitation du champ BirAllah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rate of state participation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Selon le communiqu\u00e9 publi\u00e9 par le minist\u00e8re du P\u00e9trole, de l\u2019Energie et des Mines, le nouvel accord permet \u00e0 la Mauritanie de relever son niveau de participation dans le champ de BirAllah \u00e0 29% au lieu des 14% pr\u00e9vus dans les contrats pr\u00e9c\u00e9dents, comprenant le CPP du champ GTA pour le gaz en partage entre la Mauritanie et le S\u00e9n\u00e9gal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dans un entretien avec \u00ab La Vision \u00bb, le directeur g\u00e9n\u00e9ral des Hydrocarbures au minist\u00e8re du P\u00e9trole, M. Moustapha Ould B\u00e9chir, a expliqu\u00e9 que le rel\u00e8vement du taux de participation de l\u2019Etat dans le champ BirAllah va lui permettre de mettre en \u0153uvre son master plan<\/strong> de l’exploitation du p\u00e9trole et du gas. This plan has <\/strong>to insert the financial resources from gas exploitation into the national economic fabric and thus achieve the best possible benefit from the revenues from its exploitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And according to observers, this exceptional participation rate should allow the Mauritanian state to have a stronger position in the development of the field and the choice of the best technical and strategic model for its exploitation. This is in addition to the more efficient participation in the development of local content in the choice of companies providing services and recruitment of the necessary workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n L\u2019on pense \u00e9galement que ce taux permettra \u00e0 l\u2019Etat, s\u2019il le d\u00e9sire, de faire participer d\u2019autres soci\u00e9t\u00e9s dans le champ, en contrepartie du d\u00e9veloppement et de l\u2019exploitation d\u2019autres projets de gaz et de p\u00e9trole, comme le champ \u00ab Banda \u00bb et l\u2019ensemble des puits de gaz et de p\u00e9trole se trouvant alentour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering that the Mauritanian state will take the decision to fully finance its participation in the BirAllah field, the mobilisation of the necessary resources will be easier, compared to the difficulties encountered by the government in the case of GTA shared with Senegal, thanks to the expected revenues from the exploitation of phase I and II of Grand Tortue Ahmeyim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Onshore operating facilities<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Les parties prenantes dans le champ de BirAllah ont convenu d\u2019un accord de principe sur la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9 de d\u00e9velopper les infrastructures de l\u2019exploitation de ce champ gazier, au niveau du port de N\u2019Diago, au lieu d\u2019avoir ces installations en pleine mer. C\u2019est en prenant ainsi en consid\u00e9ration des caract\u00e9ristiques techniques et \u00e9conomiques favorables, selon ce qu\u2019a affirm\u00e9 Ould El Bechir, dans son commentaire sur cet accord entre l\u2019Etat mauritanien et les partenaires BP\/Kosmos Energy. Ould El Bechir a ajout\u00e9 que ce choix aura des r\u00e9percussions positives dans le domaine de d\u00e9veloppement du contenu local par la disponibilisation de la main-d\u2019\u0153uvre et la participation active des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s locales dans les diff\u00e9rentes \u00e9tapes de d\u00e9veloppement et d\u2019exploitation du champ, en plus de la facilit\u00e9 d\u2019augmentation de la production et de d\u00e9veloppement des infrastructures, de mani\u00e8re g\u00e9n\u00e9rale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This choice responds to recurrent requests from national observers who closely follow the development of the Mauritanian economy and who consider that the good management of this gas field could be a capital contribution to local development in the N'Diago area, particularly for the eponymous port recently built in this town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The construction of the BirAllah onshore infrastructure is also, more likely, a strategic choice for the N'Diago area, which will host other energy-related infrastructure, including the industrial village dedicated to the gas and oil trades, and those intended to transport Mauritania's share of the GTA field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Huge challenges and promising prospects<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some observers of the energy sector in Mauritania point to a number of challenges facing the development of BirAllah, including the long delay in starting work on the field due to a number of reasons, including the economic conditions created by the spread of the Covid-19 virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These conditions have forced the companies holding the BirAllah licence (BP and Kosmos Energy) to delay considerably the procedures preparing the exploitation of this field, especially as the investments mobilised for the exploitation of GTA have increased considerably due to the rise in prices and the delay in production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, the new global focus on renewable energy is likely to be one of the main factors leading to the delay in BirAllah's development, especially as BP has made great strides in other renewable energy development and exploitation projects in recent years. This is probably what the Oxford Institute for Energy Research points out in its latest report, citing the reluctance of European countries to sign long-term agreements for the purchase of hydrocarbons and the drastic decline in funding mobilised by states and international companies to invest in new fossil fuel fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pending the outcome of the studies preparing the start of the development of the project, the BirAllah field remains, to date, the most important gas project in the area, both in terms of its significant reserves and its geographical position, which places it within reach of European markets eagerly awaiting an alternative to Russian gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The latter is an important factor for the exploitation of the field, especially as most European countries have started to review their strategies for transition to renewable energy following the gas crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war. This offers BirAllah new prospects and greater attractiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In any case, natural gas is one of the main \"bridges\" in the energy transition to renewable energies, as it is the least polluting of all fossil fuels, which puts it in a good position to cohabit, for a long time, with strategies aimed at combating climate change, on the one hand, and ensuring energy security, on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Mohamed EKA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Le champ gazier Birallah, la d\u00e9couverte de gaz la plus prometteuse dans le monde en 2019, est consid\u00e9r\u00e9, jusque-l\u00e0, comme l\u2019un des plus importants champs gaziers en Afrique…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8],"tags":[34,31,263,29,37,32],"class_list":["post-2714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualite","category-analyses","tag-africa","tag-afrique","tag-birallah","tag-gaz","tag-petrole-et-gaz-en-mauritanie","tag-petrole"],"yoast_head":"\n