The new block 17 discovery will be integrated into existing production infrastructure through a tieback arrangement to the Pazflor floating production, storage and offloading vessel. This connection is expected to deliver an additional 6,000 barrels per day of production capacity, leveraging already-established facilities to optimize development efficiency and reduce capital requirements.

Operational Partnership and Stakeholder Structure

France-based TotalEnergies maintains operational control of Block 17 with a 38 percent working interest. The project encompasses a diverse international consortium, reflecting the collaborative nature of modern offshore oil and gas development. Norway’s Equinor ASA holds a 22.16 percent stake, while the United States-based Exxon Mobil Corporation retains 19 percent. The Azule Energy joint venture, equally owned by Britain’s BP and Italy’s state-backed Eni, maintains a 15.84 percent position. Angola’s national petroleum company, Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola EP (Sonangol), owns a five percent stake in Block 17.

Recent Exploration Momentum Across Angola Portfolio

“Acacia-5 is the second exploration success recorded in 2026 across TotalEnergies’ Angolan portfolio, following the recent Block 0 discovery in the prolific Lower Congo Basin, where TotalEnergies holds a 10 percent interest alongside Chevron, operator”, TotalEnergies stated in a press release, commenting on the new block 17 discovery.

The Block 0 discovery demonstrated a hydrocarbon column exceeding 600 meters within the primary Pinda reservoir, with net pay exceeding 90 meters and exceptional reservoir characteristics, according to Chevron’s announcements.

Development discussions for the Block 0 discovery are exploring a tieback arrangement to Chevron’s existing infrastructure for the 105-4X find. Production from Block 0 has already commenced through the Mafumeira developments.

Expansion of Exploration Acreage

Concurrent with the new block 17 discovery announcement, TotalEnergies finalized concession agreements with Angola’s National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG).

“These promising blocks benefit from extensive existing 3D seismic coverage and offer access to several prospective geological plays”, TotalEnergies said.

“They are located close to existing facilities in TotalEnergies-operated Blocks 17 and 32, where six FPSOs are currently producing, therefore allowing for future tie-backs and cost-efficient development of additional resources through existing facilities,” it added.

Additionally, TotalEnergies entered a preliminary agreement with ANPG and ExxonMobil targeting exploration blocks 40, 41, 42, and 58 in the Benguela Basin. Under the arrangement, TotalEnergies would assume a 35 percent working interest in these prospective acreage positions.

Strategic Vision and Market Positioning

“Exploration is a key pillar of our ambition in Angola, supported by the incentives introduced to encourage investment”, said TotalEnergies chair and chief executive Patrick Pouyanné.

“Together with our partners, we aim to explore further and unlock new resources, sustaining a strong exploration effort to identify new opportunities across Angola’s offshore basins,” he added.

Geological Findings and Technical Details

The Vicango East-01 well encountered approximately 25 metres of high-quality, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone with a porosity measurement of 22%. This Angola offshore discovery was drilled in 940 metres of water depth using the Valaris DS-9 drillship, positioned roughly 370 kilometres northwest of Luanda. The geological characteristics indicate substantial commercial potential for the region’s continued energy development.

This latest Angola offshore discovery marks the 20th confirmed find within Block 15 across a 30-year exploration and production timeline. Over this extended period, the block has yielded more than 2.7 billion barrels of hydrocarbons, establishing its significance within Angola’s energy infrastructure.

Long-Term Production and Development Impact

“After more than 23 years of successful production from Block 15, this discovery demonstrates the continued potential of Angola’s offshore resources and reflects our ongoing commitment to exploration and development in the country. Block 15 has been one of Angola’s most significant deepwater developments, and discoveries like this help increase the value of existing infrastructure while supporting future production opportunities,” said Brian Unietis, President and General Manager of ExxonMobil Angola.

Regulatory Framework and Investor Incentives

ANPG Chairman Paulino Jerónimo attributed the continued success of exploration efforts to recent adjustments in Angola’s legal and fiscal environment. The Angola offshore discovery was facilitated partly through policy reforms designed to encourage ongoing investment and resource development.

“This discovery is partly the result of adjustments to the legal framework and the incentives that the Angolan State has provided to investors. The extension of the Block 15 licence until 2032, Decree 8/24 on Incremental Production, as well as Decree 5/18 on the legal regime allowing exploration within and in proximity to development areas, are examples of this,” added Jerónimo.

Operational Partnership Structure

ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited serves as the operator with a 36% interest. Azule Angola Limited maintains 24% ownership, Azule Angola BV holds 18%, Equinor Angola Block 15 A.S. carries 12%, and Sonangol E&P manages 10%. ANPG functions as the concessionaire.

The Angola offshore oil project is being led by Azule Energy, a joint venture between BP and Eni, which serves as the operator. Additional partners include Norway’s Equinor, Angola’s national oil and gas agency ANPG, and the state-owned entity Sonangol.

Project Scope and Technical Details

The Greater PAJ development represents the latest expansion by Azule Energy, currently Angola’s largest independent oil and gas producer. The offshore oil development is located in the Lower Congo Basin and will integrate production from Block 31 with nearby discoveries in Block 31/21. The combined area contains estimated oil reserves of 252 million barrels, positioning it as a substantial addition to Angola’s production capacity. The deepwater infrastructure will feature a new floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO).

Production Timeline and Economic Impact

The project is expected to begin producing crude oil in the first half of 2029, providing a clear development timeline for stakeholders and investors. Joseph Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Azule Energy, said, “Greater PAJ will contribute to sustaining production, creating value for the country and reinforcing Angola’s position as a key energy supplier in the years ahead.”

Angola’s Strategic Energy Position

Angola maintains its status as a major African crude oil producer and has undertaken substantial reforms to its regulatory framework to attract fresh investment. The country has focused particularly on attracting development in mature and marginal fields as it works to maintain daily crude oil production at approximately one million barrels.

Engineering and Technology Partnerships

Other contracts supporting the Angola offshore oil project implementation were formalized during the signing ceremony, with several specialized engineering and technology firms selected for the work. These include Baker Hughes, Saipem, and TechnipFMC.

The platform is based in Block 0, which is an offshore producing area that comprises almost 12% of the daily energy output of Angola.

It is well to be noted that the development of South N’dola offshore platform went on to be supported by way of making use of the available capacity in the present infrastructure, which is an approach that is described as looking out for efficiency and that too at a lower cost.

The offshore platform in Angola goes on to depend on a field-to-production-facility tieback to the nearby Mafumeira facility, wherein the output is processed much before being sent to a terminal for export. This sort of method eradicates the requirement when it comes to distinct oil and gas processing units located at South N’dola.

Brent Gros, Chevron offshore business president, said that underpinned by the prolific Block 0, safely attaining first oil at South N’dola is indeed the latest example of the efforts by Chevron to maximize the production from their present offshore assets based in Angola.

Chevron goes on to claim that it has maintained operations within Angola for more than 70 years. The company runs two offshore zones – Block 0 as well as the deepwater Block 14 through Cabinda Gulf Oil, which is its completely owned subsidiary.

During the construction phase, South N’dola was anticipated to generate more than 800 local jobs.

Now in complete operation, it offers oil and gas to facilities across Angola.

Gros went on to add that Chevron, along with the Angolan government, has worked with each other for over 70 years in order to develop the thriving energy industry of the nation, which is indeed quite a fantastic example of how people as well as partnerships power progress.

It was earlier in September 2025 that Chevron, in collaboration with Helleniq Energy, went on to submit a bid when it comes to natural gas exploration across four offshore blocks located in Greece.

Production from the Mondo South field began in April 2015 while the other two satellite fields are expected to start producing later in the year. Peak production from the project is estimated to reach 70,000 barrels of oil a day.

The project aims at recovering approximately 190 million barrels of oil from the three satellite fields and increase the overall daily production capacity at Block 15 to 350,000 barrels.

“The project aims at recovering approximately 190 million barrels of oil from the three satellite fields and increase the overall daily production capacity at Block 15 to 350,000 barrels.”

Operator Esso Angola holds a 40% interest in Block 15 whereas Sonangol is the concessionaire. Other partners in the project and block include BP Exploration Angola (26.67%), Eni Exploration Angola (20%) and Statoil Angola Block 15 (13.33%).

The overall investment on the project is estimated to be $2.4bn. Approximately $740m has been invested to bring the project to first production.

Phase II development details of Kizomba satellite fields

Subsea facilities at the Mondo South field are tied-back to the existing Mondo floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, while the Kakocha and Bavuca fields are being developed as tiebacks to the existing Kizomba B FPSO.

The project involves the drilling of 24 production wells, modifications to the topsides of the existing two FPSOs and installation of subsea flowlines and equipment.

The Kizomba B FPSO, built with an investment of approximately $3bn, has a production capacity of 250,000bpd and a storage capacity of 2.2 million barrels, whereas the Mondo FPSO has a designed production capacity of 10,000bpd and a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels.

Angola offshore Block 15 details

Block 15, which covers an area of approximately 4,144km² is estimated to hold oil reserves amounting to five billion barrels. As of April 2015, the block is estimated to have produced more than 1.8 billion barrels of oil.

The deepwater block produced first oil through the Xikomba field in 2003, followed by Kizomba A in 2004, Kizomba B in 2005 and Kizomba C in 2008. A gas gathering project at the block was completed in 2011, enabling the transportation of associated gas from the Kizomba A and B FPSOs to the Angola LNG facility in Soyo.

Mafumeira Sul Project, Angola

Mafumeira Sul Project is the second-phase development of the Mafumeira Field located approximately 24km offshore Cabinda province, Angola.

Production from Kizomba Satellites Phase 1 started in July 2012. It involved the development of the Mavacola and Clochas fields, which are estimated to hold 250 million barrels of oil. The $1.5bn project involved the development of 18 wells, which are tied-back to the existing Kizomba A and B FPSOs.

Contractors involved with Kizomba Satellites Phase II

The pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) and FEED studies for the project were performed by Amec.

The consortium of Saipem, Petromar (Angola) and Saipem (Portugal) Maritime Trade is involved in the engineering, procurement, fabrication and installation of production and water injection pipelines and flowlines measuring approximately 60km, rigid jumpers, and other related subsea structures.

Paragon Angola is performing the engineering and procurement for the project’s topsides modifications.

Oceaneering International supplied approximately 43km of electro-hydraulic steel tube control umbilicals for the project. It further subcontracted FES International to supply two automatic diverless bend stiffener connector (DBSC) units to connect the umbilical bend stiffeners (UBS) to the FPSOs.

Hydrasun was subcontracted by MSCM to supply 55 hydraulic flying leads (HFLs) for the project. Seatrucks Group was contracted to supply its Jascon 30 DP3 pipelay accommodation vessel for the project.

The subsea crossing supports and structures integrating low-friction, ultra-high-molecular-weight (UHMV) polyethylene and Monel alloy fixings for the safe installation of the pipelines were supplied by Subsea Protection Systems (SPS).

In December 2007, the final investment decision was made on the project after years of planning, which began back in the 1990s when Angola’s government and state operator Sonangol gave the green light to the project consortium to begin its development.

“The Angola LNG project involves the construction of a single liquefied natural gas train.”

The project is expected to generate $180m through the sale of carbon credits. It will help reduce 13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Each tonne of carbon can be traded at $14, which translates into $182m in annual income.

LNG train

The programme involves the construction of a single liquefied natural gas (LNG) train with a production capacity of 6.8 billion cubic metres a year (5.2 million tonnes) adjacent to the coastal town of Soyo, 350km north of Luanda. Consuming around one billion cubic feet of gas a day, the plant has a projected lifespan of 30 years. At a cost of $4bn, the project represents the largest single investment in Angolan history. First production will take place in the first quarter of 2012.

Chevron is the lead partner through its subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, which owns a 36.4% share. The other consortium members are national oil company Sonangol – as Sonagas – with 22.8% (having sold 13.6% to Eni in 2006), BP and Total with 13.6% each.

Reserves and resources

The Angola LNG project has estimated natural gas resources amounting to 297 billion cubic metres (10.5 trillion cubic feet). The plant’s primary source of supply in the early years of operation was from associated fields, helping to reduce gas flaring and facilitate oil production.

It is anticipated that non-associated gas from previously discovered gas fields will ultimately form the feed to the plant, as oilfields mature and associated gas production declines. Much of Angola’s deep and ultra-deepwater areas are considered highly prospective and still await exploration.

Gas resources arising from a number of blocks have been exclusively designated for the project. These reserves, lying in water depths of up to 1,500m are to come from blocks 0 and 14 (Chevron), 15 (ExxonMobil), 17 (Total) and 18 (BP), along with future ultra-deepwater blocks and previously discovered non-associated gas fields in blocks 1 and 2.

The gas produced in these designated blocks will be transported onshore to the new LNG plant by high-pressure pipelines to undergo conditioning and extraction of the natural gas liquids before liquefaction to LNG.

Soyo LNG plant

A joint venture of JGC Corporation, KBR and Technip was awarded the front-end engineering design contract for the facility in 2005.

Work to prepare the plant site will be carried out by a Boskalis International/Jan de Nul Dredging joint venture, with the necessary advanced engineering and procurement awarded to Overseas Bechtel.

“Construction work will also include storage and marine loading facilities for LNG, LPG and condensate.”

The plant will benefit from the ConocoPhillips-Bechtel Global LNG Collaboration, using ConocoPhillips’s Optimised Cascade LNG process to produce LNG from the feed derived from the offshore gas fields. The new plant will also process propane and butane LPGs and condensate, and will provide Sonangol with up to 125 million cubic feet of gas daily for the domestic market under gas supply, sales and re-gas agreements.

Construction work will also include storage and marine loading facilities for LNG, LPG and condensate.

Contracts for the Angola LNG project

Dredging International was awarded a contract to carry out works for the Soyo LNG port. The scope of work includes installing navigation aids, navigation buoys and optional maintenance works.

Bechtel contracted Dresser Masoneilan to supply control valves for the project, and Alcatel-Lucent will provide communication systems.

Marine engineering for the project was carried out by China Harbour Engineering Company. Acergy was contracted in September 2009 to install a 70km pipeline transport LNG onshore to the LNG facility.

In December 2011, GAC was awarded the contract to provide port and bunker fuels services for the project.

Monetising the gas market

The first gas will be shipped from the plant in 2012 to the Gulf LNG Mississippi regasification terminal – to be built near Pascagoula – for subsequent sale throughout the US. A subsidiary of Sonangol has a 30% holding in the $1.2bn project, while the facility has a 20-year supply deal with Sonangol.

The upshot is widely expected to establish Angola as a primary competitive source of LNG for a global and fast-developing natural gas market. As a result, the Angola LNG project is set to bring a number of national benefits, including commercialising natural gas resources, prioritising the further exploration of oil and natural gas and, by providing a source of natural gas for domestic use, stimulate further economic growth.

Eni operates the Block 15 /06, holding a 35% interest, while the remaining interest is held by Total (15%), Sonangol (15%), SSI (a joint affiliate of Sinopec and Sonangol, 25%), Statoil (5%) and Falcon Oil Angola Investimentos (5%). Total sold its share of interest in the field to Sonangol for a sum of $750m in February 2014. The block was earlier awarded to the partners during Angola’s 2006 licensing round.

“The Cabaça North discovery was made in October 2009 with the drilling of the Cabaça Norte-1 well at a water depth of 500m and to a total depth of 2,830m.”

Eni approved the final investment decision for the project in November 2013. Major contracts for the project were awarded in 2014 and early 2015, and first production is expected in October 2016.

Discoveries at Angola’s Block 15/06 East Hub fields

The Cabaça North discovery was made in October 2009 with the drilling of the Cabaça Norte-1 well at a water depth of 500m and to a total depth of 2,830m. It encountered oil pay in sands with excellent reservoir characteristics and produced oil at rates exceeding 6,500 barrels of oil per day (bpd) during production tests.

The Cabaca South-East discovery was made in July 2010 with the drilling of the Cabaca South East-1 well at a water depth of 470m. The well encountered oil-bearing reservoirs of the Miocene age, having total gross thickness of 450m.

Eni further appraised the Cabaca South-East discovery in October 201 by drilling the Cabaça South East-2 well at a water depth of 470m. The well flowed high-quality 34° API oil at rates of approximately 7,000bpd, increasing the initial estimate of the discovery’s reserves by at least 30%.

Eni’s East Hub reserves

Combined oil reserves of the two discoveries are estimated at approximately 230 million barrels. A peak production capacity of approximately 17,000bpd net is expected to be achieved from the project in 2017. The start of production from the field will increase the production level at Block 15/06, which also accommodates the West Hub Development Project, to 200,000bpd.

East Hub Development Project details

The first phase of the three-phased project involves the development of the Cabaça South-East discovery where ten subsea wells will be drilled. The Cabaça North discovery will be developed in the next phase, increasing the total number of subsea wells to 23.

Kaombo Ultra-Deep Offshore Project, Angola

Kaombo Ultra-Deep Offshore Project involves the development of six of the 12 fields discovered at Block 32 around 260km offshore Luanda, Angola.

The project will also involve the development of nearby discoveries, such as the Lira discovery, in later stages for which further detailed studies are expected to be made.

The host platform for the project will be a leased FPSO, which is being converted from the Armada Ali Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tanker (formerly MT Osprey VLCC). The conversion project is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2016.

FPSO for Eni’s Angolan offshore field

The FPSO will have a designed crude oil production capacity of 80,000bpd, and a storage capacity of 1.8 million barrels and 120,000bpd of water injection and 120 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas handling capacities.

The living quarters of the vessel will provide accommodation facilities for 100 people, and will be moored at a water depth of 450m using an external turret mooring system. The vessel’s topsides alone would weigh approximately 15,000t.

Contractors involved with the Angolan offshore project

The contract for the chartering, operation and maintenance of the FPSO was awarded to a consortium of Bumi Armada Offshore Holdings (BAOHL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bumi Armada) and Angoil Bumi JV (ABJL, a joint venture of BAOHL, Angoil Exploracao Petrolifera and Cosmarg Limitada) in August 2014. The RM9.6bn (approximately $2.9bn) contract was awarded in August 2014.

Keppel Shipyard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M), is performing the FPSO conversion works. Dynamac was awarded a $60m contract in February 2015 to fabricate six topside modules for the FPSO vessel.

FMC Technologies will supply the subsea production systems for the project under a contract worth $393m.

Cathelco is supplying a fore and aft impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system to protect the FPSO’s hull against corrosion. The system will integrate a control panel wired to two Cathelco C-Max disc anodes and reference electrodes mounted on port and starboard of the FPSO.

Two diesel-hydraulic driven fire water pumps, each with a capacity of 2.900m³ an hour at 12-bar discharge pressure, and two in-house diesel generators for the FPSO will be supplied by Fischcon.

The Mafumeira Sul project involves the development of the southern section of the Mafumeira field with an investment of $5.6bn. The front end engineering design (FEED) studies for the project started in January 2010 and the final investment decision (FID) was made in February 2013.

First production from Mafumeira Sul is expected in 2015 and daily peak production from the project is estimated to reach 110,000 barrels of crude oil and 10,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Chevron subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) is the operator holding a 39.2% interest. Other partners in the project include Sonangol (41%), Total (10%) and ENI (9.8%).

Mafumeira Sul development details

The development of Mafumeira Sul primarily involves the installation of new platforms, drilling of 34 production wells and 16 water-injection wells, installation of umbilical, riser and flowline (URF) facilities, and 121km (75 miles) of subsea pipelines.

“The Mafumeira Sul project involves the development of the southern section of the Mafumeira field with an investment of $5.6bn.”

The platforms at the field will comprise the central production complex (CPC) featuring three bridge-connected platforms, two 3,200t each wellhead platforms (WHPs) namely Mafumeira Centro and Mafumeira Sul, a 148-man living quarters platform (LQP), and a flare tower.

The project will also involve making modifications to the existing Mafumeira Norte wellhead platform. The facilities are designed to accommodate production from undeveloped fields in the Southern Malongo area in the near future.

Oil and gas export facilities

The oil produced from the field will be exported to the existing Malongo Oil Terminal, while the LPG will be conveyed to the Sanha LPG floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which has a storage capacity of 135,000m³. Associated natural gas will be conveyed to the onshore Angola Liquefied Natural Gas (ALNG) plant located at Soyo.

Contractors involved with the Angolan offshore field

The pre-FEED and majority of the FEED activities for the project were performed by Amec. Cronus Technology performed the FEED for the submarine pipelines and subsea tie-in spools.

Saipem has been awarded three separate engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contracts for the project. The first contract is for the URF, the second contract is for the modifications on the existing Mafumeira Norte platform and tie-ins on the new platforms, while the third contract is for the onshore section of the 18in-diameter pipeline connecting the field to the Malongo Terminal.

East Hub Development Project, Angola

The project involves the development of the Cabaça North and Cabaca South-East discoveries located approximately 350km north-east of Luanda.

The two WHPs are being fabricated by a consortium of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Paenal. The former along with Wood Group is also responsible for the fabrication of the CPC platform, whereas the EPC contract for the LQP has been awarded to McDermott.

A deck module for the CPC was supplied by Taekyung Heavy Industries. The cathodic protection works for the CPC were performed by Samgong.

The workshop and laboratory building, storage and work control building, and operation storage building for the CPC were designed by EDG Consulting Engineers.

Dimension-All Manpower (DAMI) is performing the hook-up, commissioning and carryover works for the two WHPs.

Primary air, instrument air, nitrogen generator and nitrogen booster packages for one of the platforms were supplied by Generon IGS. Autronica Fire and Security provided its proprietary AutroSafe fire protection system for the production platform.

Floating ball valves, trunnion mounted ball valves, metal-seated ball valves and cryogenic service ball valves and gate / globe / check valves were supplied by SWI Valve. Dual grout seals, mud diaphragms and pile centralisers were supplied by Crux Products.

The shipments of the pipe components were performed by Base, a member of Project Cargo Network (PCN). Trenching of a pipeline was performed by Geocean using a marine autonomous excavator (MAX) system.

Integrated telecommunications systems for the project are being provided by Harris CapRock. Other contractors involved in the project include Hyundae Fitting (HDFCO), Cameron Solutions, Posco Plantec, and Sail Inspection & Engineering (SIECO).

Kaombo Ultra-Deep Offshore Project involves the development of six of the 12 fields discovered at Block 32 around 260km offshore Luanda in Angola. The final investment decision on the project was made in April 2014, which made a further saving of $4bn to the overall investment, earlier estimated at $20bn.

Total operates Block 32 with a 30% stake, along with Sonangol P&P (30%), Sonangol Sinopec International (20%), Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) (15%) and Galp Energia (5%).

The project is located in an 800km² site in the central and southeast part of the block. The water depth at the location ranges from 1,400m to 1,900m.

Major contracts for the $16bn project have been awarded, and production is expected to start in 2017. The production capacity is expected to be 230,000 barrels a day, while the estimated reserves of the six wells are 650million barrels.

Development of the ultra-deep offshore project

The development of the Kaombo Ultra-Deep Offshore Project primarily involves the drilling of 59 subsea wells, which will be connected via 300km of subsea lines to two floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. Associated gas from the fields will be transferred to the Angola Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant in Soyo.

Two of Total’s very large crude carriers will be converted to create the FPSOs. The two FPSOs will each have an oil treatment capacity of 115,000 barrels a day, a water injection capacity of 200,000 barrels a day, a gas compression capacity of 100 million standard cubic feet a day, and an oil storage capacity of 1.7 million barrels.

The project’s subsea production system will include 20 subsea manifolds and 65 well-sets with vertical subsea trees, ancillary controls, and workover and tie-in systems.

Contractors involved

The $3bn engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning contract for the two FPSOs was awarded to Saipem. The contractual scope includes the engineering, procurement and conversion of the tankers, fabrication and integration of the topsides, and installation of the mooring systems, including the hook-up.

Saipem has also been awarded a $1bn contract to operate and maintain the converted FPSO units for seven years.

A joint venture between Technip and Heerema Marine Contractors has been awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, installation and pre-commissioning contract for the project’s subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines. The contract, awarded in April 2014, is worth $3.5bn, with Technip’s share being 55% and Heerema’s share 45%.

The joint venture will also carry out engineering and installation works for 18 rigid single-top-tension risers, which are large buoyancy tanks measuring 40m by 6m. It will also install flexible top riser jumpers, riser base spools, the rigid pipe-in-pipe production and single pipe injection pipelines, and other subsea structures, piles and steel jumpers. The deeper and heavier pipe-in-pipe production pipelines range from 12in to 18in in diameter.

The Nkr14bn ($2.350bn) contract for the supply of the subsea production system was awarded to Aker Solutions. The company is further collaborating with Prodiaman Oil Services to carry out the local activities associated with the contract.

Offshore vessels involved in the Angolan ultra-deep offshore project

Heerema’s deepwater construction vessel the Balder will be deployed to install the STTRs and the pipe-in-pipe production pipelines, while Technip’s vessel the Deep Blue will install all the remaining pipelines. Technip will also deploy other vessels from its fleet to install the flexibles and umbilicals, and provide construction work support for the ultra-deepwater project.

Bumi Armada’s subsidiaries Armada Offshore OSV and Bumi Armada (Labuan) were contracted in January 2014 to supply their Armada Tuah 306 and Armada Tuah 302 platform supply vessels to carry out the drilling works within Block 32.