The deepwater Rosa discovery in Angolan block 17, where Statoil has a 13.33 per cent interest, is to be developed with a total of 25 subsea wells tied back to the nearby Girassol production ship.
Angolaâs state oil company, Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sonangol), has authorised block 17 operator Total to award the main contracts for this development.
Discovered in 1998, Rosa lies 135 kilometres off Angola in 1,300-1,500 metres of water. It is due to start production in the first half of 2007.
This represents the second satellite to be tied back to the Girassol ship, following the Jasmim development which came on stream last December.
The Girassol ship, which began producing oil in 2001, is to be modified to increase its capacity â initially to an annual average of roughly 250,000 barrels per day.
When Rosa comes on stream, its estimated daily oil production will be about 70,000 barrels. This is set to rise to 150,000 barrels.
âDeveloping Rosa now is important for maintaining production from the Girassol vessel in coming years,â explains Petter Ăyen.
He is project manager for international oil Angola in Statoilâs International Exploration & Production business area.
âThe biggest challenge in this project will be the extensive modifications planned to the ship in order to tie in Rosa,â he adds.
To ensure transfer of experience from North Sea conversions, Statoil has collaborated closely with Total over this project and has stationed a staffer in the Rosa team.
A total of 15 discoveries have been made in block 17, and it was also decided in the spring of 2003 to develop the Dalia field with a production ship comparable in size to the Girassol vessel.
Plans call for Dalia to come on stream in the third quarter of 2006, with an expected plateau production of 225,000 barrels of oil per day.
Sonangol is the block 17 concessionaire. In addition to Statoil, Total has a 40 per cent interest, Esso Exploration Angola 20 per cent, BP Exploration 16.67 and Norsk Hydro 10 per cent.