| Wednesday, 7 May 2003 The Angolan state-own oil company Sonangol has given French oil group TotalFinaElf the go-ahead for the development of the deepwater Dalia oilfield in offshore Block 17.
The project, representing an investment of around $US3.4 billion in Angola, is located 135km offshore, close to Girassol field, in water depths of between 1,200 m and 1,500 m.
The development includes 34 production wells, 30 water injection wells and three gas injection wells.
The FPSO vessel for Dalia will represent the second production unit on Block 17. The FPSO, with a capacity for processing 240,000 barrels of oil daily, will also have a storage capacity of two million barrels.
The launch of Dalia field, due on stream in the second half of 2006, is a key step in the development of Block 17, where 15 field discoveries have been made earlier. It follows the Girassol development, brought on stream in late 2001, and Jasmim, a satellite to the Girassol field, which is scheduled to begin production in the second half of 2003.
Sonangol is the concessionaire of Block 17, in which TotalFinaElf (operator) holds a 40% stake. The other shareholders are Esso Exploration Angola (20%), BP Exploration Angola (16.67%), Statoil Angola AS (13.33%) and Norsk Hydro (10%).Click here to read the rest of today's news stories. |
