Italian
energy major ENI and Angolan state company Sonangol have started oil production
from the Ochigufu project, in Block 15/06 of Angola’s deep offshore, ENI said.
The field will add 25,000 barrels to the current production levels.
According
to ENI, the Ochigufu field is located in 1,300 meters below the surface in
Angola’s deep offshore, approximately 150 kilometers west of Soyo and 380
kilometers northwest of the capital Luanda.
The wells
are connected by the underwater Sangos production system and from there tied in
to the N’Goma FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) vessel in the
West Hub of Block 15/06 (ENI 36,84%, Operator; Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção 36,84%;
SSI Fifteen Limited 26,32%), ENI said.
Oil
production will start-up on March 16, a year and a half year after the Plan of
Development was first presented, is the first for ENI in 2018 as well as the
first start-up of the year in Angola, the Italian company said, adding that it
represents a further step in the development of the prolific Block 15/06, where
ENI discovered over 3 billion barrels of oil in place and 850 million barrels
of reserves. These discoveries were then developed quickly and efficiently,
with the sequential start-up of the Sangos field in 2014, Cinguvu in 2015,
Mpungi and Mpungi North in 2016, East Hub in 2017 and now Ochigufu.
According
to ENI, the subsequent start-up in this block in 2018 will be the UM8 reservoir
in East Hub and the Subsea Boosting System for the Mpungi field, while the
Vandumbu field in the West Hub is expected to start production in early 2019.
These three start-ups will increase overall production by a further 30,000
barrels.
ENI has
been present in Angola since 1980 through its subsidiary ENI Angola. Equity
production amounts to 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/italys-eni-starts-oil-production-offshore-angola/