Project Profile
Value: US$1.2 billion
Location: 30km off the eastern part of the Niger Delta
Water Depth: 40m
Start-up Year: 2003 (Phase 1), 2007 (Phase 2)
The Amenam-Kpono field sits astride offshore blocks OML 99 and OML 70, about 30km off the eastern part of the Niger Delta. Discovered in 1990, it is one of the largest conventional offshore developments in West Africa.
The project comprises of two phases. During phase one, all the associated gas was reinjected into the reservoirs to optimise the oil recovery rate. Within a year of the field coming on stream, peak production of 125,000bpd oil was reached. This strategy was selected because of the flaring ban coming into force in 2008. Not flaring avoids annual emissions estimated at 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Cumulative production over 30 years will amount to 588 million barrels of oil.
Phase two, which started in 2007, was dedicated to developing the associated gas from this and other fields. Ten million cubic meters of previously re-injected gas is now exported to the Bonny liquefaction plant. To replace this, 300,000 barrels of water a day will be injected. This therefore required the use of additional offshore structures as well as the use of water injection, partially replacing the gas injection that was used.
The engineering, construction and installation of the production platform were awarded to SaiBos, which subcontracted with Technip, McDermott and Dockwise on the project. The platform has a production treatment capacity of 130,000 bopd. Measuring 197 feet (60 metres) long, 131 feet (40 metres) wide and 164 feet (50 metres) high, the production platform consists of three levels and weighs 11,500 tons (10,433 tonnes). Via a 19 mile (30 kilometre) pipeline, the production platform is connected to a Floating Storage Offloading vessel (FSO) moored on the field and about 37 miles (60 kilometres) off the coast. Awarded to Hyundai Heavy Industries, the FSO Unity has a storage capacity of 2.4 million barrels of oil. Acergy was tapped to engineer, procure, fabricate, install and commission the 705-ton (640-tonne) water injection platform with 606-ton (550-tonne) topsides with 12 drilling slots and six injection wells.
Operators:
Total: Operator with 30.4% interest
ExxonMobil: 9.6% interest
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC): 60% interest
Contractors:
Acergy: Engineer, procure, fabricate, install and commission contract and construct and install the pipeline from the gas production platform
Hyundai Heavy Industries: FPSO contract
IMRA Group: Recruitment & Staffing
SaiBos: EPC contract
Saipem: Engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of the production platform and bridge connecting it to existing infrastructure
Stolt Offshore: Engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and commissioning of a 640 tonne water injection platform with 550 tonne topsides
Subcontractors:
Dockwise
McDermott: Engineering, construction and precommissioning for the topsides
Technip: Topsides construction and installation for SaiBos