The Kaombo field is located in 1,950m-deep waters, approximately 150km off the Angolian coast. It is the biggest ultra-deepwater oil field development project in Angola till date.
The oil field is situated in Angola’s offshore Block-32, which is operated by Total with 30% interest. The other development partners in the block are Sonangol (30%), Sonangol Sinopec International (20%), Esso (15%), and Galp (5%).
The £12.8bn ($16bn) Kaombo project comprised the development and tying-back of six satellite fields to two floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) facilities.
The Block-32 development partners announced the final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2014.
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The Kaombo development project, located 150km off the coast of Angola, Africa (Credit: Galp)
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Aker Solutions provided subsea production system for the Kaombo field development. Image courtesy of Aker Solutions.
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Technip along with Heerema Marine Contractors was awarded the EPC contract for the subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines for the Kaombo project. Image courtesy of Technip.
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The Kaombo field achieved its full production capacity in April 2019. Image courtesy of Total.
The first FPSO unit on the field achieved its first oil in July 2018 and was officially inaugurated in November 2018.
The second FPSO commenced operations in April 2019, increasing the total production capacity of the field to 230,000 barrels of oil a day (bopd).
Kaombo oil field development details
The Kaombo oil field development consists of six satellite fields in the central and south-eastern parts of Block 32.
The satellite fields are Gengibre, Gindungo, Caril, Canela, Mostarda, and Louro oil discoveries.
The discoveries are spread over approximately 800km² and are together estimated to hold 650 million barrels of oil reserves.
A total of 59 subsea production wells have been developed across the six fields, making it the biggest subsea well system in Angola for a single project till date.
The offshore development involved the tying-back of these oil fields with two turret-moored FPSO units through 300km of subsea pipelines.
The associated gas produced at the field is exported to the Angola LNG plant.
Kaombo FPSO details
The two FPSO vessels for the offshore oil field are called Kaombo Norte and Kaombo Sul, which were converted from two very large crude carriers named VLCC Olympia and VLCC Antarctica, respectively.
The topsides for the FPSOs were fabricated at Saipem’s Karimun Island Yard in Indonesia, while the vessel conversion work was performed at Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.
Each FPSO has 115,000bopd of oil processing capacity and 100 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas compression capacity a day.
Further, each FPSO unit has 200,000 barrels a day of water injection capacity and 1.7 million barrels of oil storage capacity.
The first FPSO to have commenced production on the field is Kaombo Norte, which is connected to the well flows from the Gengibre, Gindungo, and Caril oil fields.
The FPSO Kaombo Sul was commissioned in April 2019, which processes oil from the Canela, Mostarda, and Loura fields.
Contractors involved in the Kaombo project
A consortium of Technip and Heerema Marine Contractors was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contract worth £2.8bn ($3.5bn) for the subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF) for the Kaombo oil field development project, in April 2014.
Aker Solutions was awarded a £1.28bn ($1.6bn) contract for the supply of subsea production system including 20 subsea manifolds and 65 vertical subsea well sets for the Kaombo offshore field, in April 2014.
DNV GL received the marine warranty services contract from Total for the Kaombo project in April 2015.
Other contractors involved in the project are Vallourec, Fugro, ATB Riva Calzoni, TLC, Abyss Energy, Exova, Strainstall, ClampOn, Schneider Electric, and Mentor IMC Group.
FPSO contractors for the Kaombo offshore field
Saipem was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning (EPCIC) contract worth £2.4bn ($3bn) for the two FPSO units for the Kaombo offshore oil field in April 2014.
In the same month, Saipem was awarded a £800m ($1bn) operation and maintenance services contract for the Kaombo FPSOs for a period of seven years.
Bluewater Energy was awarded the EPC contract for the turret mooring systems of both the FPSOs in June 2014.
Sembawang Shipyard, a subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine, was awarded the FPSO conversion contact for both the FPSO units in July 2014.
ITC Global was sub-contracted by Saipem to provide remote offshore communications for both the FPSOs in March 2016.
V.Ships Offshore was awarded the ship management services contract for sea trial, transit, and hook- up assistance for both the FPSOs, in June 2017.
InterOil Angola was engaged for managing the shore marine support including shore base facilities and logistics for the FPSO.
ALP Maritime Services was awarded the tow assistance and heading control services contract for the Kaombo Norte FPSO in June 2018.
Petrolis was subcontracted for the FPSO mooring and hook-up services for both the production units at Kaombo project.