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Total launches Zinia Phase 2 project at Block 17 offshore Angola

France’s Total has launched the second stage of development work at Zinia, a section of Block 17 offshore Angola.

In a joint statement with Angola’s National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), Total reported that it had brought the Zinia Phase 2 short-cycle project on stream. It said it had reached this milestone on schedule, after “more than 3mn man-hours of work, of which 2mn were performed in Angola, without any incident.” Capital expenditures came in at 10% below the budgeted amount, resulting in savings of $150mn, it added.

Total did not reveal initial production rates, but it noted that Zinia Phase 2 was slated to see yields peak at 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in mid-2022. The project will encompass the drilling of nine new wells at the field, it said, and all of these wells will be tied in to the Pazflor, a floating production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) unit that is handling oil from four fields in the eastern section of Block 17.

The French major and its partners expect to extract a total of 65mn barrels of crude from Zinia during the second phase of development. The oilfield is located about 150 km from shore, beneath waters ranging from 600 to 1,200 metres deep.

Nicolas Terraz, Total’s president for exploration and production in Africa, described the launch of Zinia Phase 2 as a positive development. “The successful start-up of this project, despite the challenges that have arisen as a result of the pandemic, demonstrates Total’s commitment to ensure a sustainable output on Block 17, for which the production licence was recently extended until 2045,” he commented. “Zinia Phase 2 ... reflects the quality of short-cycle projects in Angola with high return on investment.”

Paulino Jerónimo, the CEO of ANPG, added that he expected this initiative to benefit Angola. “Zinia Phase 2 is a key project for Angola that comes at the right time to sustain the production of the country,” he declared. “We welcome our collaboration with Total, [which] keeps investing with its partners in the development of [Angola’s] oil resources.”

The French company serves as operator of the consortium set up to develop Block 17 and has a stake of 38%. The remaining equity in the group is divided between Equinor (Norway), with 22.16%; ExxonMobil (US), with 19%; BP (UK), with 15.84%, and Sonangol, the national oil company (NOC) of Angola, with 5%.