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Paris (AFP)
The French oil giant Total announced Tuesday it has started crude oil production in the second half of its Kaombo plant, off Angola, the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Kaombo Sul floating storage and unloading facility will add 115,000 barrels of oil per day and bring the overall production capacity to 230,000 barrels, or 15 percent of Angolan output, the company said.
The Kaombo Norde facility was launched eight months ago in deep waters 260 km west of the capital Luanda.
The two facilities, mostly converted tankers, will serve 59 wells in six fields spread over 800 km 2 of sea reaching depths of up to 1,950 meters.
Total launched the Kaombo project in 2014, just before oil prices began to drop from over $ 100 per barrel to less than $ 30. Although affected by delays, Kaombo has not been sidelined unlike many other deep offshore projects that are more expensive than onshore wells.
The project "is an excellent example of standardization aimed at reducing costs and improving efficiency," said Arnaud Breuillac, president of Total for Exploration and Production, in the statement.
The $ 16 billion selling price of Kaombo was 20% lower than originally planned.
The project is important for Angola because oil accounts for 90% of the country's exports and 70% of state revenue.
? AFP 2019
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