TotalEnergies has brought online two subsea tieback projects offshore Angola.
The French operator announced on 23 July that production from the Begonia and CLOV Phase 3 tieback projects had begun, flowing a combined 60,000 BOPD to nearby floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels.
“Those two first oils will help Angola maintain its production levels above 1 million barrels per day,” Paulino Jerónimo, chairman of Angola’s National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) board of directors, said in a news release.
TotalEnergies’ Begonia interblock project in water depths between 400 and 750 m represents the first development in Block 17/06. It has five subsea wells tied back to the Pazflor FPSO, onstream since 2011. TotalEnergies reached final investment decision on the $850 million Begonia project in July 2022, with first oil initially expected in late 2024. At the time, the company said it would be the second TotalEnergies-operated development in Angola—following CLOV Phase 3—to use a standardized subsea production system, which was expected to cut costs by up to 20% and shorten equipment delivery lead times.
Begonia is a 30,000 BOPD project. TotalEnergies, which operates the field with 30% interest, said the interblock development was a first for Angola and was made possible by interblock cooperation on the part of concession holder ANPG; Block 17/06 partners Sonangol E&P with 30%, SSI with 27.5%, ETU Energias with 7.5%, and Falcon Oil with 5%; and the partners of Block 17, which is also operated by TotalEnergies.
The CLOV Phase 3 project is in Block 17, which TotalEnergies operates with 38% interest on behalf of concession holder ANPG and partners Equinor with 22.16% interest, ExxonMobil with 19% interest, Azule Energy with 15.84% interest, and Sonangol E&P with the remaining 5% interest.
Four subsea wells will send 30,000 BOPD to the CLOV FPSO, which has been onstream since 2014. TotalEnergies greenlit the Phase 3 project in June 2022, following the CLOV Phase 2 subsea tie back starting production in December 2021.
CLOV and Pazflor are two of the four main production hubs in Block 17. The other two are Dalia, which started production in 2008, and Girassol, online since 2001.
