Eni launches Cabaça North at Block 15/06

Italy’s Eni said last week that it had launched the Cabaça North development project at Block 15/06 offshore Angola.

In a statement, the Italian major reported that it had begun extracting crude oil from Cabaça North, a field in the eastern section of its licence area. It explained that it was using subsea tie-backs to deliver these barrels to the Armada Olombendo, the floating production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) unit that serves as the eastern hub of development at Block 15/06.

Eni went on to say that it expected output levels at Cabaça North to peak at 15,000 barrels per day of oil. This will “increase and sustain the plateau of the Armada Olombendo, a zero-discharge, zero-process flaring FPSO with an overall capacity of 100,000 bpd,” it said.

Cabaça North is the second eastern section of Block 15/06 that the Italian company has brought on stream this year. It began early production operations at the Cuica section of the licence area in July and is aiming to do the same at the Ndungu section of the block within the next few months.

Eni expressed satisfaction with the rapid launch of the new development project, saying: “The start-up of Cabaça North is yet another example of how Eni Angola, in full co-operation with ANPG [the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency] and partners, keeps creating value on Block 15/06 through its Infrastructure-Led Exploration [ILX] strategy, generating a pipeline of fast-track subsea tie-backs, thus maximising the utilisation of existing facilities in the area in a sustainable manner.”

Equity in Block 15/06 is split between Eni, the operator, with 36.8421%; Sonangol P&P, an affiliate of the national oil company (NOC) Sonangol, with 36.8421%, and SSI Fifteen Ltd (Angola), with 26.3158%. The partners brought the western hub of the development on stream in 2014, with the Ngoma FPSO handling oil from the Cinguvu, Mpungi, Nzanza, Ochigufu, Sangos and Vandumbu fields. The eastern development hub followed later, and the Agogo field may eventually support a third development hub.