Kosmos Energy
Kosmos Energy is an American upstream oil company founded and based in Dallas, Texas. While previously incorporated in Bermuda, Kosmos has reincorporated in Delaware. The company holds production and development operations offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and Gulf of Mexico, while holding a development project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, and exploration licenses offshore Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe and Suriname. It was previously involved in exploration offshore Morocco and Western Sahara. It discovered the Jubilee oil field off the coast of Ghana and the cross-border Tortue gas field offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Kosmos was the focus of a documentary Big Men that followed the company as it worked to establish the Jubilee oil field in Ghana.
History
Kosmos Energy was established in 2003 by founding partners James C. Musselman, Brian F. Maxted, W. Greg Dunlevy, and Paul Dailly. Initial backing came from American private equity firms Warburg Pincus and The Blackstone Group. Originally, it was incorporated in Bermuda.Kosmos made one of the world's largest recent oil discoveries in June 2007, off the coast of Ghana. The company discovered the Jubilee Oil Field about offshore. The first oil from the field was produced in 2010. The company and its operations in Ghana, around the time of the Jubilee discovery and work to develop the field, was the focus of Rachel Boynton's 2013 documentary-film Big Men. The documentary was shortened and adapted into a BBC television documentary Storyville: Power, Money, Greed and Oil.
Kosmos went public under the ticker symbol KOS on the New York Stock Exchange on May 10, 2011. The initial public offering raised more than anticipated, selling 33 million shares at $18 each. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange on August 21, 2017.
Kosmos and Chevron reached a deal in June 2012, where subsidiary Chevron Global Energy Inc. received a 50% working interest in Block 45 and Block 42 in Suriname, to boost operations. In May 2016, Kosmos reached a farm-out agreement with a subsidiary of Hess Corporation, wherein Hess acquired a 33% non-operated interest in Block 42 from Kosmos and Chevron.
Kosmos began a controversial oil drilling project in the Cape Bojador area in 2014 off the coast of the disputed territory of Western Sahara. In an article from February 2015, former UN legal counsel Hans Corell stated that exploration activities by Kosmos and Glencore were in violation of the legal opinion he wrote for the UN Security Council. Kosmos responded that its operations complied with international law and were consistent with the UN opinion. Kosmos officials also told media it recognized that its work in the area must occur alongside UN-led mediation.
The company said local populations in Western Sahara would benefit from the economic development of the region. A Kosmos official told Reuters, "If we are successful, we believe responsible resource development has the potential to create significant social and economic benefits for Western Sahara and its people. We have worked in close partnership with Morocco — as the de facto administering power of the territory. They have a vital role to play in ensuring benefit sharing, among other important issues, will happen should we be successful".
In 2016, Norway's Council on Ethics recommended that the country's Government Pension Fund Global exclude Kosmos Energy and Cairn Energy Plc. from its investment portfolio due to their activities in Western Sahara. In June 2016, the Financial Times quoted Kosmos correspondence with the Council on Ethics: "We fundamentally disagree with the council's assessment of our activities offshore Western Sahara, where we have spent considerable time on the ground working with local people to understand their views of oil and gas exploration. The council's decision fails to recognize that people in Western Sahara—whom we have met in hundreds of face-to-face conversations—want the economic opportunities that come from increased foreign investment." In February 2018, Kosmos announced its withdrawal from Morocco and Western Sahara, marking the end of 17 years of companies in the oil sector there.
Kosmos made two significant gas discoveries offshore Mauritania in 2015. Kosmos discovered gas at its Tortue-1 exploration well in Block C-8 in April 2015, followed by another gas discovery in its Marsouin-1 exploration well, which was later renamed Bir Allah, in the northern part of Block C-8. A few kilometers south of Tortue-1, Kosmos Energy discovered gas at its Guembeul-1 exploration well offshore Senegal in January 2016.
The company continued to make gas discoveries in 2016 and 2017, including significant natural gas resources at the Teranga-1 exploration well offshore Senegal in 2016. In December 2016, Kosmos and BP entered a partnership in Mauritania and Senegal. BP acquired a 62% working interest, including operatorship, of Kosmos' exploration blocks in Mauritania and a 32.49% effective working interest in Kosmos' Senegal exploration blocks. In May 2017, the two companies made a major discovery off the coast of Senegal while drilling the Yakaar-1 exploration well.
Senegal and Mauritania signed a cooperation agreement to allow for Kosmos and BP to develop gas resources shared by the two counties in February 2018. BP and Kosmos made a final investment decision on the Tortue project in December 2018, leading to the first phase of the Tortue LNG development.
Kosmos Energy acquired Deep Gulf Energy, expanding Kosmos' oil and gas operations into the Gulf of Mexico, in August 2018. In December 2018, Kosmos was reincorporated in Delaware. Previously, it was incorporated in Bermuda.
Operations
As of 2021, Kosmos Energy produces oil and gas in Equatorial Guinea, Ghana and the Gulf of Mexico, and has a license to explore in one block offshore São Tomé and Príncipe. In December 2016, BP entered into a partnership with Kosmos, whereby BP became the operator of Kosmos's exploration blocks in Senegal and Mauritania, which includes the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim liquefied natural gas project. Previously it operated also in Morocco and Western Sahara but has ended its operations there.Ghana
Kosmos Energy discovered the Jubilee Oil Field in 2007. The Jubilee field is estimated to hold up to of oil and of natural gas. United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly advocated for Kosmos and other U.S.-based oil companies in Ghana as Kosmos began development of the Jubilee field. In addition to Jubilee, Kosmos is a partner on the TEN project developing the Tweneboa, Enyenra, and Ntomme hydrocarbon accumulations. Oil first flowed from TEN in 2016, which sits approximately off the coast of Ghana.In 2016, Kosmos owned a 24.1% stake in Jubilee and a 17% stake in TEN. Kosmos announced in late 2021 it had acquired an additional 18% interest in the Jubilee Field and an additional 11% interest in the TEN field, both from Occidental Petroleum Corporation for $550 million. The 2021 transaction was subject to a 30 day pre-emption period, which was exercised by Tullow Oil reducing Kosmos' total interest in Jubilee to 38.3% and TEN to 19.8%.
Equatorial Guinea
In October 2017, Kosmos entered a 50:50 joint venture with Trident Energy to acquire Hess Corporation's interest in the Ceiba Field and Okume Complex assets offshore Equatorial Guinea. Kosmos also has interests in exploration blocks offshore Equatorial Guinea. In November 2019, Kosmos announced an oil discovery at its S-5 well offshore of Equatorial Guinea.Gulf of Mexico
Kosmos Energy entered the deepwater Gulf of Mexico in August 2018 when it acquired Deep Gulf Energy from First Reserve, a private equity firm, for $1.23 billion. Kosmos Energy paid $925 million in cash and $300 million in common stock to acquire DGE. As a result of the transaction, Kosmos Energy increased its daily production by more than 50% to 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent; estimated reserves increased 40% to 280 million barrels of oil equivalent.Mauritania and Senegal
Kosmos has operated in the Cayar and St. Louis blocks offshore Senegal. At the time of operation it held a 32.51% interest in each of the two exploration licenses.In Mauritania, Kosmos has acreage in the C8 and C12 blocks which range in depth from 100 to 3,000 meters. C8 and C12 are located on the western margin of the Mauritania Salt Basin offshore Mauritania.
It made a significant gas discovery at its Tortue-1 well in Block C-8, offshore Mauritania, in April 2015. The well was drilled to test the Tortue West prospect, forming a part of the Greater Tortue complex. Its next discovery offshore came at Kosmos' Marsouin-1 exploration well, later renamed Bir Allah, in the northern part of Block C-8. With results from its Ahmeyim-2 appraisal well, Kosmos estimated the Tortue West contains of gas, and the Greater Tortue Complex contains more than. Company officials said this discovery confirmed that the Tortue gas resource, which is also called Ahmeyim, straddles the maritime boundary between Senegal and Mauritania.
Kosmos and BP have a farm-out agreement over the joint gas discovery in Mauritania and Senegal, as well as future exploration. Under the deal, Kosmos focuses on exploration, while BP controls development and production operations. The two companies have discovered an estimated of gross Pmean gas resource at the Yakaar-1 exploration well. At the end of 2018, Kosmos Energy announced a final investment decision for phase 1 of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG Project alongside BP.
The Greater Tortue Ahmeyin natural gas field is being developed to produce gas from a deepwater system to a midwater floating production storage and offloading vessel. The FPSO processes the gas for liquefaction and sends the gas via pipeline to a floating liquefied natural gas facility. The FLNG facility is located on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border. As of September 2022, phase 1 of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project was expected to begin production in 2023 with an estimated yield of approximately 2.5 million tons annually; a final investment decision had not been reached for phase 2. The GTA project will provide global export and provide gas availability for domestic use in Mauritania and Senegal.
Kosmos Energy confirmed gas resources at the Yakaar-2 appraisal well offshore Senegal. In October 2019, Kosmos made a major gas discovery at its Orca-1 exploration well offshore Mauritania. The company estimated the total gas available as 100 trillion cubic feet.
In October 2019, Kosmos made a major gas discovery at its Orca-1 exploration well offshore Mauritania. The company estimated the total gas available offshore Mauritania and Senega as 100 trillion cubic feet of gas.