By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 2 -- Oil production has started Oct. 1 from the Greater Plutonio development area on Block 18 off Angola, reported block operator BP Angola (Block 18) BV. Production, which flowed at 45,000 b/d of oil, is expected to ramp up to a plateau of 200,000 b/d by next year.
The offshore development, the first BP-operated asset in Angola, is comprised of five fields: Galio, Cromio, Paladio, Plutonio, and Cobalto. BP made its first discovery on the block in 1999-2001 in 1,200-1,450 m of water. The area's final development plan calls for 43 wells—20 producers, 20 water injectors, and 3 gas injectors—which will be connected by a large subsea system to a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel.
The FPSO has a storage capacity of 1.77 million bbl of oil, a processing capacity of 240,000 b/d of oil, and gas handling of as much as 400 MMscfd of gas. The vessel, which has a treated water injection rate of 450,000 b/d, is held in position by 12 mooring lines connected to anchor piles on the seabed.
The subsea system includes the longest single riser tower system of its kind in the world, BP said. At 1,258 m, it connects the FPSO to a network of subsea flowline and control systems that include 150 km of flowlines, 9 manifolds, and 110 km of instrument and control umbilicals. Many components of the subsea systems, as well as the riser tower, were made in Angola, including six of the subsea manifolds along with the worlds largest CALM (Catenary Anchor Leg Mooring) offloading buoy and the first ever Angolan assembled and tested subsea trees.
Several Angolan technicians and engineers are being trained to operate and support the Greater Plutonio development area in an ongoing 5 year development program, BP said.
BP and Sonangol Sinopec International Ltd. each hold equal interest in Block 18.
