Eni has commenced production of first oil at its West Hub development project, offshore Angola.
The field currently produces 45,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) via the N’Goma floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
The field is situated in Block 15/06, about 350km north-west of Luanda and 130km west of Soyo.
Production is estimated to reach a production rate of about 100,000 bopd in the coming months.
Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said: "The start-up of the West Hub in Angola is a milestone in Eni’s upstream activities. Starting from an extraordinary exploration success, we have achieved an industry-leading time to market of only four years from the declaration of commercial discovery."
Eni drilled 24 exploration and appraisal wells in Block 15/06 after winning the international bidding round in 2006.
The company discovered approximately 3 billion barrels of oil in place and 850 million barrels of reserves.
Eni operates Block 15/06 with a 35% stake.
Eni will see overall daily production increase to 200,000 barrels with the start-up of the East Hub Development, expected in 2017.
Sonangol EP is the concessionaire of the block and other partners of the joint venture are Sonangol Pesquisa e Producao, SSI Fifteen and Falcon Oil Holding Angola.
Eni said it will continue its exploration programme in Block 15/06.
The company started operations in Angola in 1980 and had a daily production of 87,000 barrels of oil equivalent in 2013.
Image: Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi. Photo: courtesy of Eni.
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