BP acquired equity and operatorship for Block 31 in 1999 as one of four licenses awarded that year for the ultra-deep water offshore Angola. To date, fifteen fields have been discovered in the block. Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola – Sonangol E.P. – has authorised BP and its co-venturers to develop a series of deepwater oil discoveries in offshore Angola’s Block 31. The Block 31 developments programme is based on a standardised development concept, which is intended to reduce cycle time, optimise capital and maximise operating efficiency through standardised design, fabrication and commissioning. The first project in the programme will comprise the Plutao, Saturno, Venus and Marte (PSVM) fields which lie in the north east sector of Block 31, in a water depth of approximately 2000m, some 400 kilometres north west of Luanda. PSVM will comprise a converted hull floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) with 1,600,000 barrels of storage capacity; 48 production, gas and water injection plus infill wells; 15 manifolds and associated subsea equipment; 170 kilometres of flowlines and 95 kilometres of control umbilicals. Construction work is expected to start during 2008 with first oil planned in 2011 and building to a plateau of about 150,000 barrels per day by 2012. Full development will comprise multiple hubs similar to the first development (PSVM). The second development will be in the SE area of Block 31 and is in the planning phase.
Block 31, West og Africa, BP, Africa,