Sonangol gives TotalFinaElf go-ahead to develop Dalia field off Angola

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, May 6 -- Angola's state-owned Sonangol has given operator TotalFinaElf SA a green light to develop Dalia field on Angola's deepwater Block 17, the site of 15 earlier discoveries. Dalia development will require an investment of $3.4 billion. The field is due to come on stream in third quarter 2006.

Discovered in 1997, Dalia has an estimated 1 billion bbl of oil reserves. It lies 135 km off Angola in 1,200-1,500 m of water close to Girassol field, which is thought to contain 725 million bbl. Block 17 acreage also includes Jasmim, a satellite due to start producing in the second half of this year through a tie-back to Girassol, which came on stream in 2001.

Dalia development involves installing a 240,000 b/d floating, production, storage, and offloading vessel and drilling 34 production wells, 30 water injection wells, and 3 gas injection wells. The Dalia FPSO will have a storage capacity of 2 million bbl of oil—the same capacity as the Girassol FPSO, regarded as the world's largest. Although the two vessels will be in close proximity, the crudes they will produce differ and therefore require different processing equipment (OGJ Online, May 5, 2003.)

Plateau production from Dalia is anticipated at 225,000 b/d, slightly higher than on Girassol.

TotalFinaElf holds a 40% interest in Block 17; ExxonMobil unit Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Ltd. has 20%, BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd. 16.67%, Statoil Angola Block 17 AS 13.33%, and Norsk Hydro AS 10%.