Eni, Sonangol P&P and SSI Fifteen have commenced production from the Vandumbu field in Block 15/06 located offshore Angola, three months ahead of schedule.
Image: Eni begins production from Vandumbu field. Photo: courtesy of QR9iudjz0/Freeimages.com.
Production from the Vandumbu field is being carried out by the N’Goma FPSO (floating production storage and offloading unit).
The offshore field is located about 350km North West of Luanda and 130km West of Soyo. It is part of the West Hub Development Project executed by the Block 15/06 partners, which also includes the development of Sangos, Cinguvu, Mpungi, Mpungi North and Ochigufu fields that are contained in water depths in the range of 1,000-1,500m.
According to Eni, the production of the Vandumbu field followed by the commissioning of a subsea multiphase boosting system (SMBS) is increasing the oil production from Block 15/06 by 20,000 barrels of oil per day through the N’Goma FPSO.
The Italian oil and gas giant expects the ramp-up of the offshore field to be completed in the first quarter of 2019, to reach a total production of nearly 170,000 barrels of oil per day and extending the production plateau further.
Eni, in a statement, said: “The two start-ups mark a further step forward in the phased and clustered development strategy that Eni has adopted for Block 15/06, and which has allowed the start-up of eight fields since November 2014, when production from West Hub started from the Sangos field.”
The Italian firm is the operator of Block 15/06 with a stake of 36.84% while Sonangol P&P and SSI Fifteen hold stakes of 36.84% and 26.32%, respectively.
In May 2018, Eni and its partners completed the ramp-up of the Ochigufu oil field, which been in production since mid-March.
The partners’ East Hub development project is also part of Block 15/06, which involves the development of the South-East discoveries.
Eni and partners have discovered over three billion barrels of oil in place and 850 million barrels of reserves in Block 15/06. The Italian firm expects the new and future start-ups in the Block 15/06 including the Vandumbu field to yield a further 30,000 barrels of oil to take the overall production from the deep offshore block to more than 170,000b/d in 2019.