Eni starts production of the East Hub Development Project, offshore Angola

SAN DONATO MILANESE -- Eni has started production of the East Hub Development Project, in Block 15/06 of the Angolan deep offshore, ahead of development plan estimates and with a time-to-market among the best in the sector.

Production is taking place through the Armada Olombendo Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, which can generate up to 80,000 bopd and compress up to 3.4 MMcmgd. With nine wells and four manifolds at a water depth of 450 m, the FPSO Olombendo will put into production the Cabaça South East field, 350 km northwest of Luanda and 130 km west of Soyo.

Production from the East Hub Project will add to production from the existing West Hub Project in Sangos, Cinguvu and Mpungi fields, where another vessel, the FPSO N’Goma, is operating. In total, Block 15/06 will reach a peak of 150,000 bopd this year.

“We are proud of what we have achieved in Block 15/06,” said Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi. “Leveraging our extensive experience in exploration, we have been able to discover a total of 3 Bbbl of oil in place through 10 commercial discoveries. Moreover, thanks to strong field development and project management, we are beginning production of the East Hub with a time-to-market of only 3 years, and 5 months ahead of schedule. Cabaça South East brings our number of fields in production to 5, with 2 more expected to start before the end of 2018. This is yet another example of Eni’s Angolan and worldwide capability to deliver state-of-the-art projects, and was made possible by Eni’s new operational model, where we play an increasingly active role in the integrated development of our projects.”

Block 15/06 is operated by Eni with a 36.84% share, while Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção controls 36.84% and SSI Fifteen Limited controls 26.32%. Eni has been present in Angola since 1980 through its subsidiary Eni Angola. Equity production amounted to 124,000 boed in 2016.