A floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO)-based development in Nigeria is among the three finalists in contention for the2023 International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) Excellence in Project Integration Award. The award highlights projects with budgets of at least $500 million that have demonstrated distinction throughout the entire exploration and production value chain.
The IPTC Excellence in Project Integration Award is given to a project that adds value to the industry and exemplifies strong teamwork, solid geoscience knowledge, reservoir and production engineering acumen, determined and watchful construction, and outstanding facilities engineering practices.
The 2023 nominees are TotalEnergies' Egina development offshore Nigeria, Saudi Aramco’s Fadhili Gas Plant in Saudi Arabia, and ExxonMobil’s Liza Phase 1 and 2 off Guyana.
The Egina project is the largest FPSO to date in the TotalEnergies SE fleet of FPSOs and the first deepwater project in Nigeria after the 2010 Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Development Content Act. The project provided connections between different companies, more than 48-million person-hours worked in Nigeria, fabrication of more than 60,000 tons of equipment in Nigeria, and the advancement of drilling technologies leading to greater oil production in ultradeep waters of 1400 to 1700 m.
The reservoir and drilling advancements implemented during the project are expected to benefit future offshore developments in reservoir drilling. Two hundred Nigerian students were trained, which will create room for excellent career opportunities. A conscious effort was made to purchase local goods, employ Nigerian citizens, and develop local infrastructure. In addition to contributing to oil production, the Egina project has positively impacted the Nigerian economy.
The Fadhili integrated gas processing plant (FGP) is located onshore and lies 60 km west of Jubail seaport in the Arabian Gulf. It is the newest of three best-in-class gas processing facilities developed by Saudi Aramco that demonstrates an outstanding commitment to safe utilization of technologies, efficient monetization of assets, and prompt project execution through an excellent capital management program.
The facility processes a total of 2.5 Bscf/D of raw sour gas, 2.0 Bscf/D from an offshore gas field, and 500 MMscf/D of low-BTU sour gas from an onshore gas facility through a complex subsea gas-gathering network. The processed low-BTU gas provides 1.5 GW to the national electricity grid alongside sales gas to the national gas grid. FGP integrated development began in 2016 and was put on stream in 2020. The facility development and execution were completed in a record-breaking time of less than 5 years with zero lost-time injury.
ExxonMobil's Liza Phase 1 and 2 development is also a finalist. In May 2015, the Liza-1 exploration well was discovered oil offshore Guyana in the Stabroek block. In less than 5 years, the Liza Phase 1 Project began production from Liza Destiny FPSO in December 2019, making it one of the fastest projects from discovery to first oil of its type in the industry. In May 2019, Liza Phase 2 was funded, less than 2 years after final investment decision for Liza Phase 1. Liza Phase 2 began production from Liza Unity FPSO in February 2022.
There were challenges along the way, from a new country entry into a frontier basin, to the restrictive metaocean conditions, to a global pandemic. The Liza development deployed new technologies and novel execution approaches to meet these challenges. Integration across all aspects of the projects was key to this achievement, with the concept of One Team embedded into team behaviors.
The 2023 International Petroleum Technology Conference will be held in Bangkok, 1–3 March. View the program schedule here; register here.
