Eni and its partners have completed the ramp-up of the Ochigufu oil field offshore Angola, which began production in mid-March.
According to the Italian energy company, the deep offshore oil field has now reached its production plateau of 24,000 barrels/day (b/d) inside two months from start-up.
The company said that the operated production from Block 15/06 will now be stable as a result, at more than 150,000b/d, which is in line with its aim of adding 54,000b/d to the offshore block’s production by 2019.
Located nearly 150km from Soyo and 380 km from Luanda, the Ochigufu oil field is contained in 1300m of water depth. The production wells of the oil field are linked subsea to the Sangos production system and from there the Ochigufu production is connected to the FPSO N’Goma in the West Hub.
The Ochigufu oil field is part of the West Hub development project in Block 15/06 which will see the development of other fields like the Sangos, Cinguvu, Mpungi, Mpungi North and Vandumbu. Also part of Block 15/06 is the East Hub development project.
Eni and partners have discovered more than three billion barrels of oil in place and 850 million barrels of reserves in the deep offshore block.
The next in line to enter into production in Block 15/06 is the UM8 reservoir in the East Hub and also the Subsea Boosting System for the Mpungi field. The Vandumbu field located in the West Hub is scheduled to begin production in early 2019.
Eni said that these future start-ups will yield an additional 30,000 barrels of oil from Block 15/06, which is expected to cross 170,000b/d in 2019.
The Italian company owns a stake of 36.84% in the offshore block and is its operator, while its partners are Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção with a stake of 36.84% and SSI Fifteen which owns a stake of 26.32%.
Eni has been operating in Angola from 1980 through its subsidiary Eni Angola and has an equity production of 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the African country.