By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 29 -- Total SA reported the startup of oil production from deepwater Rosa field on Block 17 off Angola.
The field, discovered in January 1998, lies 135 km off the coast in 1,350 m of water. It is tied back 15 km from the Girassol floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, making it the first deepwater field of its size to be tied back to such a remote installation and in such water depths, Total said.
Rosa field, which is estimated to hold 370 million bbl of proven and probable oil reserves, will maintain the FPSO's production plateau at 250,000 b/d until early in the next decade, Total said.
Rosa field will comprise 25 wells, including 11 for water injection and 14 producers, which will be tied into four manifolds. The subsea installation consists of 64 km of insulated (pipe-in-pipe) production flow lines and 40 km of water-injection lines linking Rosa to the FPSO vessel.
Block 17 is composed of four major zones: Girassol and Dalia, both on production; Pazflor, which is in the bidding process before sanction; and CLOV, a fourth production area based on the Cravo, Lirio, Violeta, and Orquidea discoveries, development of which is now being studied.
Future production from these fields will come in addition to the 500,000 b/d of oil currently pumped from the Girassol and Dalia structures on the block.
Total E&P Angola is operator of Block 17 and has a 40% interest. Partners are Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Ltd. 20%, BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd. 16.67%, Statoil Angola Block 17 AS 13.33%, and Norsk Hydro Dezassete AS 10%.
