ANGOLA’S Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Sonangol E.P.), BP Angola (Block 18) BV, as the operator, and Sonangol Sinopec International Ltd (SSI) have announced that production from the Greater Plutonio development area in Block 18, offshore Angola, started on 1st October. The development consists of five distinct fields discovered in 1999-2001 in water depths of up to 1,450m, and is the first BP-operated asset in Angola.
The Greater Plutonio offshore development area is 160km NW of Luanda, and comprises the Galio, Cromio, Paladio, Plutonio, and Cobalto fields in water depths varying from 1200 to 1450m. It will eventually contain 43 wells: 20 producers, 20 water injectors, and three gas injectors. The development utilizes a floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to process produced fluids and export crude. The FPSO is connected to the wells by a large subsea system.
The heart of the Greater Plutonio subsea system is the longest single riser tower system of its kind in the world. At 1,258m, it connects the FPSO to a network of subsea flowline and control systems that include 150km of flowlines, nine manifolds and 110km of instrument and control umbilicals. Many components of the subsea systems, including the riser tower, were constructed and assembled in Angola, including six of the subsea manifolds along with the worlds largest CALM (catenary anchor leg mooring) offloading buoy and the first ever Angolan assembled and tested subsea trees.