The natural gas project, a joint venture between British energy giant BP and U.S.-based Kosmos Energy, started operations on the final day of 2024. It is meant to bring jobs to the densely populated fishing community of Guet Ndar, just outside the old colonial capital of Saint Louis.

The gas extraction plant, the deepest in Africa, is aimed at helping to transform Senegal’s stagnant economy after the discovery just over a decade ago of oil and gas off the country’s coast. The first offshore oil project also began last year.

Soon after the gas project’s production began, fishermen said they noticed a large number of bubbles in the sea. BP cited a temporary gas leak that “had no immediate impact on ongoing production activities from the remaining wells.”

The leak took weeks to fix. BP did not say how much gas — largely methane — leaked into the ocean, or what caused a leak so early in the new project.