Eni makes oil discovery, starts up Vandumbu in block 15/06 offshore Angola

Offshore staff

SAN DONATO MILANESE, Italy – Eni has started production from the Vandumbu field and made a new oil discovery in the Afoxé exploration prospect in block 15/06 offshore Angola.

First oil from the Vandumbu field, through theN’Goma FPSO, was achieved in late November, three months ahead of schedule.

Vandumbu is about 350 km (217 mi) northwest of Luanda and 130 km (81 mi) west of Soyo.

This, along with the start-up of a subsea multi-phase boosting system in early December, is boosting the oil production from block 15/06 by 20,000 b/d via West Hub’sN’Goma FPSO. The ramp-up of Vandumbu is expected to be completed in 1Q 2019, to achieve a total production of about 170,000 b/d of oil and further extending the production plateau.

In addition, Eni has made an oil discovery in the Afoxé exploration prospect in the southeast area of block 15/06. The discovery is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 MMbbl of light oil in place.

The Afoxé-1 NFW well, which has led to the new oil discovery, is about 120 km (75 mi) offshore, 50 km (31 mi) southwest from theOlombendo FPSO and 20 km (12 mi) west of the recent Kalimba-1 discovery. The well was drilled in a water depth of 780 m (2,559 ft) and reached a total depth of 1,723 m (5,653 ft).

Afoxé-1 NFW proved 20 m (66 ft) net oil pay of high-quality oil (37° API) contained in Upper Miocene sandstones with excellent petrophysical properties, the company said. The well has not been tested but an intensive data collection has been carried out that indicates a production capacity of more than 5,000 b/d of oil.

The nearby discoveries of Kalimba and Afoxé account for a potential of 400-500 MMboe of high-quality oil in place and represent a new cluster that can be exploited jointly in a new development concept.

Next year the company plans to drill up to four exploration wells in block 15/06.

Block 15/06 is developed by a joint venture formed by Eni (36.84%, operator), Sonangol P&P (36.84%) and SSI Fifteen Ltd. (26.32%).

12/10/2018