Name and Location
Akpo field development, Nigeria.

Project Description
With proven and probable reserves estimated at 620-million barrels of condensate, and more than one tera cubic feet of gas, Akpo is one of the largest deep offshore projects ever undertaken and will be the largest brought on stream. The field development plan calls for 44 wells, comprising 22 producers, 20 water injectors and two gas injectors.

The subsea infrastructures, transporting the hydrocarbon effluents, will consist of 110 km of a complex array of high-pressure high-temperature subsea flowlines connected by steel catenary riser pipe sections to a floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO). The 100 000-t dry weight FPSO, maintained on location by 12 anchor lines, will house the surface treatment facilities and is designed to process 185 000 bbl/d, as well as store up to two-million barrels of stabilised liquid hydrocarbons. Those, in turn, will be exported through a single-point mooring oil terminal, located 2 km away.

Akpo has been designed as a hybrid development capable of handling up to 530-million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfpd) of high-pressure gas, out of which 185 mmscfpd will be reinjected into the reservoir to maximise hydrocarbon recovery and 320 mmscfpd will be exported by pipeline.

Value
$1,08-billion.

Duration
The project will be brought on stream in 2009.

Client
Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (Tupni) (24%) interest, alongside the OML 130 partners: Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, South Atlantic Petroleum of Nigeria, CNOOC of China and Petrobras of Brazil.

Latest developments
Tupni has started production from its Akpo deep-water development ahead of the planned start-up date.

The ramp-up of production to 175 000 bbl/d of condensate and 320 mmscfpd gas plateau is expected to be reached during 2009.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Tupni, tel +234 1 262 1765 or fax +234 1 262 1767.