Oil and gas explorer Kosmos Energy said it had made one of the largest discoveries of natural gas in recent years in waters offshore Mauritania, where it sees the potential to extract 50 trillion cubic feet of gas. In view of the discovery at the Orca-1 well, Kosmos said it had decided to extend the timeline to sell down its interest in the area to next year. The exciting discovery in the BirAllah offshore area was hailed by the UK supermajor as highly significant. Andy Inglis, chief executive of block partner Kosmos and an ex-BP man, termed it the largest deep-water hydrocarbons discovery anywhere this year. “Orca-1, which we believe is the largest deepwater hydrocarbon discovery in the world so far this world-scale quality of the Mauritania gas basin,” Kosmos Chief Executive Andrew Inglis said in a statement. The area off Mauritania and its neighbor Senegal in West Africa is one of the most-watched basins in the world for gas drilling and has attracted investments from companies such as Australia’s Woodside Energy and BP. The find established the basin as “world class”, suggesting there may be further significant discoveries to be made. If exploited, such discoveries could transform the economies of both nations, bringing much-needed revenues. Success at Orca could create a BirAllah gas hub that could tie in with another one at Yakaar-Teranga on the Senegal side of the border. Both could be connected to Tortue, which straddles the maritime boundary between the two countries. Kosmos had planned to sell down its interest in the Mauritania-Senegal “Orca-1, which we believe is the largest deepwater hydrocarbon discovery in theworld so far this year, further demonstrates the world-scale quality of the Mauritania gas basin.” Basin by the end of the year, but it will extended its timeline to 2020, “giving potential bidders additional time to analyze the new data”, the company said. The volume of gas potentially trapped in the area is equal to around 8.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent, which could make it one of the largest hydrocarbon discoveries in the world since Italy’s Eni discovered the 30 tcf Zohr gas field offshore Egypt in 2015. The area off Mauritania and its neighbor Senegal in West Africa is one of the most-watched basins in the world for gas drilling and has attracted investments from companies such as Australia’s Woodside Energy and BP.