The Mafumeira Sul project is located in Block 0, approximately 24km (15 miles) offshore Cabinda province, Angola, at a water depth of 60m. It is the second phase of development of the Mafumeira field.
Chevron’s subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (CABGOC) is the operator with a 39.2% interest. Other partners in the project include Sonangol (41%), Total (10%) and Eni (9.8%).
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The first phase of the Mafumeira field, known as Mafumeira Norte, involved the development of the northern section, which started production in July 2009.
The Mafumeira Sul project involved the development of the southern section of the Mafumeira field with an investment of $5.6bn. The front-end engineering design (FEED) studies for the project started in January 2010, and the final investment decision (FID) was made in February 2013.
The main production facility of the Mafumeira Sul became operational in March 2017, and gas export to Angola LNG commenced by mid-2017.
Mafumeira Sul project development details
The development of Mafumeira Sul primarily involved the installation of new platforms, drilling of 34 production wells and 16 water-injection wells, installation of umbilical, riser, and flowline (URF) facilities, and 121km (75 miles) of subsea pipelines.
The platforms at the field comprise the central production complex (CPC) featuring three bridge-connected platforms. The complex has three wellhead platforms (WHPs), namely Mafumeira Centro, Mafumeira Sul and the Norte platform, in addition to a 148-man living quarters platform (LQP), and a flare tower.
In 2018, six new wells were drilled and ramp-up activities continued at the main production facility. The daily output averaged 52,000 barrels of liquid (17,000 net) and 147 million cubic feet of natural gas (57 million net).
The project also involved making modifications to the existing Mafumeira Norte wellhead platform. The facilities are designed to accommodate production from undeveloped fields in the Southern Malongo area.
Oil and gas export facilities at Mafumeira Sul
The oil produced from the field is exported to the existing Malongo Oil Terminal, while gas is conveyed to the Sanha LPG floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which has a storage capacity of 135,000m³. Associated natural gas is conveyed to the onshore Angola Mafumeira Norte (LNG) plant located at Soyo.
Contractors involved with the Angolan offshore field
The pre-FEED and most of the FEED activities for the project were carried out by Amec. Cronus Technology was responsible for the FEED of the submarine pipelines and subsea tie-in spools.
Saipem secured three engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contracts for the project. The scope of work involved flowline installations, Norte platform modifications and tie-ins, and the onshore segment of the 18in-diameter pipeline linking the field to the Malongo Terminal.
The two WHPs were constructed by a consortium comprising Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and Paenal. DSME, in collaboration with Wood Group, fabricated the CPC platform while McDermott was awarded the EPC contract for the LQP.
A deck module for the CPC was provided by Taekyung Heavy Industries. Samgong carried out the cathodic protection works for the CPC.
The CPC’s workshop and laboratory building, storage and work control building, and operation storage building were designed by EDG Consulting Engineers.
Dimension-All Manpower (DAMI) executed the hook-up, commissioning, and carryover works for the two WHPs.
AG&P was contracted by DSME to oversee pre-planning, hook-up, pre-commissioning, and commissioning works for the second phase of the Mafumeira Sul project’s development.
Geocean conducted the pipeline trenching using a marine autonomous excavator (MAX) system.
Generon IGS, Autronica Fire and Security, SWI Valve, Crux Products, Base, and Harris CapRock are some of the suppliers involved in the project.
Additional contractors include Hyundae Fitting (HDFCO), Cameron Solutions, Posco Plantec, and Sail Inspection & Engineering (SIECO).
