The 2023 Cn-Itie report lifted the veil on the details of the financial transactions linking Petrosen to the operators of the Sangomar and GTA projects.
According to the report, Petrosen communicated a note on the financing of oil and gas projects in Senegal during the 2021 validation. The note specifies that Petrosen was able to finance its participation in the Grand Tortue/Ahmeyin (GTA) project thanks to loans of BP and Kosmos Energy for US$435 million. In February 2019, Kosmos Energy and BP signed Carry advance agreements with the national oil companies of Mauritania and Senegal, according to Liberation.
These agreements oblige Kosmos and BP to finance part of the development costs linked to phase 1 of the GTA project. Kosmos’ contribution was estimated at $240 million, repayable with interest from future revenues from national oil companies. Examination of the situations as at December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2023 indicates that the principal balance owed by the national oil companies was $259.2 million and $196.9 million, respectively; interest accrued on the balance owed by national oil companies was $37.3 million and $21.5 million, respectively, as reported Liberation.
The same note indicates that for the Sangomar project, Petrosen was able to obtain a loan of 450 million USD from Woodside Energy Ltd to finance part of its needs. The agreement was signed with Woodside on January 9, 2020. The Ministry of Finance also indicates, in the Multi-annual Budgetary and Economic Programming Document (DPBEP) 2025-2027, that Petrosen’s contribution to development expenditure should amount to approximately $756 million, financed to the tune of $450 million by a loan from Woodside. Additional financing amounting to approximately $270 million was mobilized by the State and transferred to Petrosen during 2021, according to Liberation.
In July 2023, the operator announced a change in the schedule, accompanied by an increase in the costs of phase 1 between 4.9 and 5.2 billion dollars, an increase of 7% to 13% compared to the previous year. previous estimate of $4.6 billion. An additional financing need for Petrosen’s shares has therefore been identified. As part of the preparation of the 2023 Cn-Itie report, Petrosen confirmed that, still as part of the financing of its participation in the Sangomar project, the State has reinforced this financing with a first agreement signed in 2023 of approximately 125 billion FCFA, then a second agreement with three banks (Crédit du Sénégal (CDS), Banque Sahélo-Saharan pour l’Investissement et le Commerce (BSIC) and Citi Bank). Petrosen bears the financial costs associated with these loans, as reported Liberation.
For both projects, the note on the financing of oil and gas projects in Senegal details the conditions and schedule of the loans, without specifying the guarantees granted under these loans. However, it is mentioned in the repayment terms for BP and Kosmos that Petrosen plans to repay the loan from revenues from the sale of liquefied natural gas (Petrosen’s share). For the loan obtained from Woodside Energy, repayment will be made from revenues from the sale of crude oil (Petrosen’s share). After analyzing Petrosen’s financial statements, the company’s balance sheet liabilities, entitled “financial debts and assimilated resources (section “borrowings and miscellaneous financial debts”)”, present a balance of 842,305,609,791 FCFA, compared to 629,610,654 956 FCFA in 2022 and 353,723,829,178 FCFA in 2021, as reported Liberation.
