By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 30 -- Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Ltd. has begun production from the Marimba North project in 3,900 ft of water 90 miles off Angola.
The Marimba North project, designed to develop 80 million bbl of oil, is a tie-back to the Kizomba A development and has come on stream ahead of schedule and within budget, and without any production impact to the Kizomba A operations.
The project includes subsea wells, a single drill center, 30 km of flowlines, and a unique riser system which ties the production flowline into the existing Kizomba A tension-leg platform. The Marimba North production and control facilities have been integrated with the existing Kizomba A development to effectively and cost efficiently use the existing field facilities.
Marimba North, one of seven major start-ups for ExxonMobil this year, will add about 40,000 b/d of peak production capacity to the existing Block 15 production, which includes the Xikomba, Kizomba A, and Kizomba B developments. With the addition of Marimba North, Block 15 will produce about 540,000 b/d of oil with combined estimated recoverable resources of 2 billion bbl of oil. A fourth Block 15 development, the Kizomba C project, is planned to develop an additional 600 million bbl in Mondo, Saxi, and Batuque fields.
Block 15 participants are Esso (operator) 40%, BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd. 26.67%, Eni Angola Exploration BV 20%, and Statoil Angola 13.33%.