Project Profile
Value: US$750 million
Area: 29,488 sq km
Water Depth: 800 m
Reserves: 32.5 million barrels of gross 2P reserves and 18 million barrels of contingent resources
Production:Average of 106 bopd (2016)
The Chinguetti field lies off the coast of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Northwest Africa, in Block 4, PSC (Production Sharing Contract) area B, about 80km west of the Mauritanian coastline and 90km from the capital, Nouakchott. It was operated by Woodside Mauritania on behalf of AGIP/Eni, Hardman Petroleum, Fusion Oil and Gas, Premier Oil and Roc Oil. The development works under a PSC with the Mauritanian Government. Chinguetti was discovered in 2001. Geologically, Chinguetti is a faulted anticlinal structure with an area of around 12km² and a diameter of 4.5km. The Miocene submarine fan / channel reservoirs are is located 1,300m to 1,900m below the seafloor. The development consists of three main gas discoveries, at Chinguetti, Tiof and Banda. Estimated recoverable oil reserves were originally put at 120m bbl (19m m³) but in November 2006 Woodside issued a statement cutting the field’s Proven and Probable (2P) reserves to 53m bbl. At the end of 2007, 2P reserves were put at 34m bbl. The total development cost to first oil is said to be about US$750m.
Operated by Woodside until December 2007, the Chinguetti field is now owned and operated by Petronas Australia Pty. While operated by Woodside, development on the Chinguetti field included a total of 11 subsea wells drilled. Of these 11 wells, six were for production while the remaining four were for water injection. Since becoming operator, Petronas was prepared for the Phase 2B development campaign and double production rates from 2007. At the end of 2007, Sterling estimated that the field held a remaining 32.5 million barrels of gross 2P reserves and 18 million barrels of contingent resources. During 2008, the Atwood Hunter Rig drilled two new development wells and three workovers. On 23 September 2011 (and effective 1 January 2011), ROC agreed to sell its interest in the Chinguetti Field to Tullow Oil plc.
Decommissioning
In August 2016, Petronas Carigali and its joint venture partners decided to permanently shut down the Chinguetti oilfield off Mauritania. The partners will begin abandonment operations in 2017. Currently they are finalizing field decommissioning plans for submission to Mauritania’s government for the Chinguetti field and the previously relinquished Banda and Tiof discoveries.
Operators:
Petronas Australia Pty: Operator
Tullow Oil plc
Premier Oil
SMHPM (Mauritania's NOC)
Kufpec
Sterling Energy
Contractors:
Ocean Installer: Decommissioning contract with BW Offshore (March/April, 2018)
Samling Resources
ABB Offshore Systems: Provider of the oil and gas processing facilities for the tanker
Bergesen Offshore: Operator and owner of the Berge Helene tanker
BW Offshore: Two year contract extension for the lease and operation of the FPSO vessel Berge Helene
Subcontractors:
Advanced Production and Loading (APL): Single point mooring (SPM) system for the tanker
PBJV Group (Barakah Offshore Petroleum’s wholly-owned subsidiary): Decommissioning work. (June, 2017)