French oil major Total has started production from its Dalia Phase 1A project, boosting the firm’s deep water Block 17 offshore Angola production by some 30,000 b/d.
The Dalia Phase 1A project involves drilling of seven infill wells, which have been completed with subsea trees and tied back via three flowbases to the Dalia floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. The Dalia FPSO subsea control system was also upgraded as part of the project.
The development, which unlocks 51 MMbbl additional reserves, is in Total’s deep offshore Block 17, 135km off the coast of Angola, in 1200-1400m water depth.
“The Dalia FPSO came on stream nearly nine years ago and with the addition of Phase 1A will still produce around 200,000 b/d. It is the latest milestone in the success story of Block 17, Total’s most prolific license with cumulative production reaching 2 billion barrels in May 2015,” explained Arnaud Breuillac, president E&P. “Dalia Phase 1A demonstrates Total’s commitment to maximizing value through the optimal use of existing facilities. These types of profitable satellite tie-back developments play an important role in maintaining production levels and generating additional free cash flow for the group.”
The Dalia FPSO's hull was built in South Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries and the topsides were built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), with construction completed in 2005. It is 300m-long and 63m-wide with 29,400-tonne of topsides. Production started in 2006, with offloading via an offloading buoy and tandem offloading.
Total operates Block 17 with a 40% interest alongside Statoil (23.33%), Esso Exploration Angola Block 17 Ltd (20%) and BP Exploration Angola Ltd (16.67%). Sonangol is the concessionaire of the license.
In total, Total operates four FPSO units on the major production zones of Block 17: Girassol, Dalia, Pazflor and CLOV.
Total also operates with a 30% interest the ultra-deep offshore Kaombo development located on Block 32. A final investment decision was made in April 2014 to develop Kaombo’s estimated reserves of 650,000 bbl via two converted FPSOs with a total production capacity of 230,000 b/d.
Total celebrated its 60th anniversary in Angola in 2013. In 2014, the Group’s equity production reached 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), coming essentially from Blocks 17, 0 and 14. In early 2015, Total’s operated production exceeded 700,000 boe/d, making it the country’s leading oil operator.
Image: Total's Dalia FPSO. Photo from Framo
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Total reaches 2 billion bbl off Angola
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