Production has begun from the West Hub development project in deep water offshore Angola, reports Eni SPA, the operator.
Production through the N’Goma floating production, storage, and offloading vessel is to increase from 45,000 b/d of oil at present to 100,000 b/d.
The development is in about 1,400 m of water on Block 15/06, 350 km northwest of Luanda and 130 km west of Soyo. The project will sequentially start production from Sangos, Cinguvu, Mpungi, Mpungi North Aera, Vandumbu, and Ochigufu fields.
Start-up of the East Hub development, expected in 2017, will raise production from the block to 200,000 b/d (OGJ Online, Sept. 17, 2014).
Eni said it has drilled 24 exploration and appraisal wells on Block 15/06, discovering more than 3 billion bbl of oil in place and 850 million bbl of reserves.
Eni and Sonangol Pesquisa e Producao hold 35% interests each. Partners are SSI Fifteen Ltd., 25%, and Falcon Oil Holding Angola SA, 5%.