Project Profile
Value: US$2.2 billion
Location: Block 14, Lower Congo basin, Congo
Start-up Year: 2013
Water Depth: 1,280 ft, 3,000 ft (Lianzi)
Area: 1,560 sq miles
The Benguela, Belize, Lobito, and Tomboco fields form the BBLT development. It lies in deepwater block 14 off Angola, in the lower Congo basin. The block lies in 1,280ft of water covering 1,560 square miles. The US$2.2 billion development centres on the first Compliant Piled Tower (CPT) outside the Gulf of Mexico. The CPT measures approximately 512m (1,680ft) from the seafloor to the top of its derrick.
Lianzi field is located in a unitized offshore zone between the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Angola. Located 65 miles (105 km) offshore in approximately 3,000 feet (900 metres) of water, the Lianzi field will be developed via a tieback to the existing Benguela Belize Lobito Tomboco (BBLT) platform located in Angola Block 14. In November 2015, Chevron Corporation through its subsidiary, Chevron Overseas (Congo) Limited, commenced oil and gas production from the field. The project is expected to produce an average of 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The work for the whole project is being carried out in a two-phase programme. The first phase consists of the Benguela and Belize developments. It is a compliant piled tower supporting an integrated drilling facility. It includes drilling and completion for more than 30 developments wells from the 40-slots. The second phase is to develop the Lobito and Tomboco fields, which will produce via subsea wells tied into the central production hub. It will see a combined peak production of 200,000b/d by 2008.
The Lucapa-1 discovery well has been drilled in 1,201 metres of water to a total vertical depth of 3,340 metres and encountered more than 85 metres of oil in Miocene age sands. The well has tested 24-degree API gravity oil from high permeability sand in the main target interval. The discovery will be followed by further appraisal drilling in addition to geologic and engineering studies to appraise the field and assess its potential reserves. The development is in the middle of the Congo River Canyon within difficult environments.
The Lucapa well may be development with a TLP linked to an FPSO, a TLP with an FSU or an FPSO and subsea wells. Lucapa may also be developed in synergy with the adjacent Gabela find in shallower waters. The project is expected to produce more than 135,000 b/d. In total up to 25 wells will be drilled on the field.The Malange-1 was drilled in 266m of water, total vertical depth of 4743m and encountered 65m of reservoir full of oil. Chevron plans to tie the deepwater Malange field back to the Benguela Belize or Lobito Tomboco facilities.
The field is found in water depth from (800-2,000m). Block 14 is operated by Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Chevron with 31%. The other partners are Agip Angola 20%, Sonangol 20%, Total Angola 20% and Portugal\'s Petrogal Exploration 9%.
Operators:
Cabinda Gulf Oil Co. (Chevron Subsidiary): Operator with 31.25% interest
Total E&P Angola: 36.75% interest
Sonangol (Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola): 10% interest
Eni Angola Production B.V.: 10% interest
Galp Energia, SGPS, S.A. (Petrogal Exploration): 4.5% interest
SNPC: 7.5% interest
INPEX CORPORATION: 9.99% indirect interest
Contractors:
Consortium for EPC operations and maintenance of the platform drilling rig:
KCA/Deutag
National Oilwell Varco
Delta: Fabricated the 157-man accommodation module
GE Oil & Gas: Subsea production equipment
Heerema: Topside modules
Kiewit Offshore: Tower base section and template
Mustang: EPCI contract
Sonamet: Constructed the drilling template, piles, flare boom, and helideck all weighing over 1,600t
Subsea 7: 10km tieback of three subsea drill centres to the CPT and EPIC SURF contract
Technip: Constructed the tower\'s 8,000t top section
Vetco Gray: 22 horizontal subsea trees, six manifolds, and fully integrated subsea and surface control systems
Wärtsilä: Supply its Direct Electric Heating (Wärtsilä DEH) system
Doris Engineering
Alliance Engineering
Houston Offshore Engineering
Subcontractors:
Daewoo: EPCI contract for the production facilities, CPT, and the oil and gas export pipelines
KBR: Perform the topsides design for Subsea 7
Nexans: Design and manufacture the direct electrical heating (DEH) system for the subsea pipelines awarded by Subsea 7
Tyne Gangway and Osbit Power: Contract to design and manufacture the MaXccess P35 telescopic gangway system for Subsea 7