Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, Feb. 28 -- Woodside Energy Ltd.'s Chinguetti oil field off Mauritania has started production.
Hook-up, testing, and commissioning of the 275,000-tonne Berge Helene floating production, storage, and offloading vessel are complete, and oil production is rising toward an expected peak of 75,000 b/d.
The FPSO is moored in 800 m of water 90 km southwest of the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. It has a storage capacity of 1.6 million bbl.
The Chinguetti development cost $720 million, 20% over the original estimate. It comprises six production wells, five water injectors, and one gas injector.
Field reserves are estimated at 120 million bbl.
A dispute between the Woodside joint venture and the new Mauritanian government over changes to four other Woodside-operated production-sharing contracts remains unresolved. The dispute does not affect Chinguetti. Revenue shares from nearby discoveries Tiof, Tevet, and Banda are being disputed.
Woodside has not responded to the government's concerns. If the parties cannot reach agreement in the next 3 months, the matter will be put before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
