Azule Energy Holdings Ltd – Eni SpA and BP PLC’s 50-50 joint venture in Angola – and its partners have started producing oil in the “Ndungu full-field”, part of the Agogo Integrated West Hub Project in the waters of the Central African country.
Ndungu is designed to produce up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day, with seven production wells and four injection wells, Italian state-backed energy major Eni said in an online statement.
“The phased integration of Agogo Integrated West Hub Project, with Ndungu full field producing first via N’goma FPSO [floating production, storage and offloading vessel] and later via Agogo FPSO, will ensure sustained long-term production from Block 15/06 and contribute meaningfully to Angola’s national output, in line with the country’s strategic petroleum objectives”, Eni said. “Together, Agogo and Ndungu expect to reach a peak output of approximately 175,000 barrels per day across the two fields”.
Incorporated joint venture Azule, based in Luanda, operates Block 15/06, in the Lower Congo Basin, with a 36.84 percent stake. Sociedade Nacional de CombustÃveis de Angola EP owns 36.84 percent. China Petroleum and Chemical Corp holds 26.32 percent.
Earlier this month Azule declared a new oil discovery in Block 15/06, with an initial estimate of about 500 million barrels.
“The Algaita-01 results build on a long successful track record of 22 discoveries, once again confirming the exceptional effectiveness of the petroleum system in Block 15/06”, Azule chief executive Joe Murphy said in a press release February 14.
“The presence of multiple nearby producing facilities further enhances the value of this new exploratory success”.
The well sits approximately 18 kilometers (11.18 miles) from the Armada Olombendo FPSO in the same block, according to the owners.
The latest discovery showed oil-bearing sandstones in Upper Miocene reservoir intervals, Azule said. “Preliminary interpretation of wireline logging and fluid sampling indicates the presence of multiple reservoir intervals with excellent petrophysical properties and fluid mobilities”, it said. The well had a water depth of 667 meters (2,188.32 feet), Azule said.
Azule, which owns over a dozen licenses in Angola and an interest in Block 2914A in neighboring Namibia, says it produces around 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It also owns a 27.2 percent stake in Angola LNG, which has a declared production capacity of 5.2 million metric tons per annum.