Pazflor Project Pushes Technology Frontier

Abstract

In its latest campaign to push the deepwater technology frontier on Angola's prolific Block 17, Total has embarked on the Pazflor project. Proceeding under a concession granted by the Angolan national oil company Sonangol, and following upon industry milestones established by Total on the same block at Girassol, Dalia, and Rosa, Pazflor will feature several world firsts for subsea technology, includingFull-field gas/liquid (G/L) separation and liquid boosting systems at the mudlineHybrid boosting pumpsVertical-separator technology Located approximately 93 miles offshore Luanda and 25 miles northeast of the Dalia complex, in water depths of 2,000 to 3,900 ft, the Pazflor development will bring four fields into production, Perpetua, Acacia, Zinia, and Hortensia, which were discovered between mid 2000 and early 2003 (Fig. 1). The project derives its name from the initial letters of three of those fields (Perpetua, Acacia, and Zinia) and the similar-sounding Portuguese word pasiflor, for passion flower. Thus continues the floral nomenclature on Block 17 established by Girassol (translated: sunflower), Dalia, and the Jasmim and Rosa subsea tiebacks to Girassol. Like the earlier core developments, Pazflor will be produced by means of a floating processing, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit. The hull of this processing behemoth will weigh 82,000 tonnes, while its 15 topside modules will weigh an aggregate 37,000 tonnes. Combined, the weight of 119,000 tonnes will make this one of the largest FPSOs in the world. Holding accommodations for 240 persons, the FPSO will process the oil produced by a system of 49 subsea wells that includes 25 producers, 22 water injectors, and two natural gas injectors. The total subsea production system, linked by a network of 109 miles of pipelines and 51 miles of umbilicals, will be spread over a vast expanse of 232 sq miles—some seven times larger than the city of Paris—and have a north/south axis of 19 miles (Figs. 2 and 3). The FPSO will have an oil-processing capacity of up to 220,000 barrels per day (B/D) and storage capacity of 1.9 million barrels, bringing the installed production capacity on Block 17 to more than 700,000 B/D. The Pazflor project carries a budgeted cost of approximately USD 9 billion. Total, as operator, holds a 40% share in the project, with the remaining interests held by StatoilHydro (23.3%), Esso (20%), and BP (16.7%). Major contracts have been awarded to Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to provide the FPSO; a consortium of SBM and APL to provide the buoy turret offloading system; FMC to provide the subsea separation and production systems; and a consortium of Technip and Acergy to provide the risers, umbilicals, and flowlines.