TOTAL UPSTREAM NIGERIA has started production from the Akpo deepwater development ahead of the planned start-up date.
The field has proved and probable reserves estimated at 620 MMbbl of condensate (around 50° API), and more than 1 tcf of gas.
The ramp up of production to 175,000 bpd of condensate and 320 MMcf/d gas plateau is expected to be reached during summer 2009. The field, discovered in 2000, is located 200 km from the Nigerian coastline in water depth ranging from 1,200 to 1,400 m. The field development requires 44 wells (22 producers, 20 water injectors, and two gas injectors), out of which 22 have already been drilled. The subsea infrastructure, transporting the hydrocarbon effluents, consists of 110 km of high pressure-high temperature subsea flowlines connected by steel catenary riser (SCR) pipe sections to an FPSO. The vessel, which is maintained on location by 12 anchor lines, houses the surface treatment facilities and is designed to process 185,000 b/d and store up to 2 MMbbl of stabilised liquid hydrocarbons. Those in turn are exported through a single point mooring oil terminal. In order to optimise gas utilisation, Akpo has been designed as a hybrid development capable of handling up to 530 MMcf/d of high pressure gas out of which 185 will be re-injected into the reservoir to maximize hydrocarbon recovery, and 320 will be exported by pipeline. This will enable additional supply to the domestic market and to the NLNG gas liquefaction plant, the company says.
