Eni pumps first oil from Cuica field offshore Angola

Italian oil major Eni has started production from the Cuica field, in Block 15/06 of the Angolan deep offshore, via the Armada Olombendo FPSO vessel.

Eni said on Monday that production from the Cuica field started on 30 July 2021 just over four months from discovery.

The Cuica field was discovered by the exploration well Cuica 1 in March 2021. It is in a water depth of 500 meters, some three kilometres from the Olombendo FPSO.

The early production of the development, that will increase and sustain the Olombendo FPSO production plateau, includes an oil producer well and a water injection well, tied back subsea to the existing Cabaça North subsea production system and exploiting the full potential of available infrastructures in the area.

“The start-up of production on the Cuica Field in Angola, just four months from the discovery, is yet another example of Eni’s Angolan and worldwide extraordinary exploration success, that, driven by the principle of infrastructure-led exploration and combined with the application of an enhanced modular and streamlined development philosophy, is allowing Eni to translate exploration successes into production in the most efficient and effective way”, the company stated

The Armada Olombendo FPSO has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil per day and is designed to operate during her production life with zero discharge.

Besides Cuica, whose production rate is in line with expectations, the Olombendo is now receiving and treating the production of Cabaça, Cabaça Southeast, and UM8 fields for a total of 12 wells and 5 manifolds at a water depth ranging from 400 to 500 meters. The Olombendo FPSO will also receive production from the Cabaça North field in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Block 15/06 is operated by Eni with a 36.84 per cent share. Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção holds an identical share while SSI Fifteen Limited holds the remaining 26.32 per cent.

Further to block 15/06, Eni is the operator of exploration blocks Cabinda North, Cabinda Centro, 1/14, and 28 as well as of the New Gas Consortium. Also, Eni has stakes in the non-operated blocks 0 (Cabinda), 3/05, 3/05A, 14, 14 K/A-IMI, 15, and in Angola LNG.