Total SA, operator of Block 17 offshore Angola, along with partners Equinor, Exxon, and BP, signed an agreement with national oil, gas, and biofuels agency ANPG and state-owned Sonangol of Angola, to extend the consortium’s production licenses to 2045.
Sonangol will obtain a 5% interest in the block on the effective date and an additional 5% interest in 2036. The consortium will pay some production bonuses to Angola along the life of the license and will spend $20 million for social programs.
Block 17, 150 km off the Angolan coast in water depths of 600-1,400 m, has produced almost 3 billion bbl of oil since 2001 by four floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) units: Girassol (2001), Dalia (2006), Pazflor (2011), and CLOV (2014).
Currently producing some 440,000 boe/d, more than 1 billion bbl is yet to be produced, Total said in a press statement.
Three short-cycle brownfield projects—Zinia Phase 2, CLOV Phase 2, and Dalia Phase 3—are under development on the block and are expected to add 150 million bbl of resources (OGJ Online, Nov. 12, 2018). Other brownfield projects for extending the production of Pazflor, Rosa, Girassol, and Dalia are under study. Additional exploration campaigns may unlock further resources, Total said, and two wells expected to be drilled in 2020.
“We are confident that Total and its partners are committed to examining a number of shortterm investment opportunities that have already been identified in order to maintain the production above 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day through 2024,” said Paulino Jeronimo, chief executive officer of ANPG.
After the entry of Sonangol, the Block 17 contractor group comprises Total (operator with 38% working interest), Equinor 22.16%, Exxon Mobil 19%, BP 15.84%, and Sonangol 5%.