--> Angola’s Kuito Deepwater Development – Phased, Fast and First, by Joy Roth, John Baillie, and John Brooke; #90062 (2007)

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Angola’s Kuito Deepwater Development – Phased, Fast and First

Joy Roth, John Baillie, and John Brooke
Chevron

Kuito represents the first of ten major oil discoveries in the Angola Block 14 deepwater exploration concession operated by Chevron, through its subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, with partners Sonangol P&P, Total, ENI, and Galp. It was developed in four phases (Phase 1A, 1B, 1C and 2A); the scope included installation of facilities to process up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day and inject 135,000 barrels of water per day. There have also been 23 producing wells, 10 water injection wells and 1 gas injection well drilled. Production flows from two separate subsea centers to the Kuito FPSO, which can store up to 1.4 million barrels of processed oil.

By implementing a ‘phased’ development approach, Chevron achieved first oil in 1999 just 30 months after discovery, making it Angola’s first deepwater production. Kuito’s phased development strategy has minimized cycle time while mitigating numerous subsurface uncertainties associated with complex, deepwater turbidite channel systems. This approach was especially beneficial, as there were no analogous, offset reservoirs in the region at the time. It has also provided valuable production and operability information for subsequent subsea well location and facilities enhancement decisions. In addition, phased development has minimized initial capital requirements while accelerating production, helping to fund further developments within Block 14.

The phased development strategy has yielded many benefits: lessons learned from modelling/drilling/producing/operating applied to subsequent phases, critical reservoir performance information useful to progress subsequent Block 14 developments, and over 150 million barrels of oil have been produced.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90062©2006 AAPG Hedberg Research Conference, Veracruz, Mexico