Technology: New structures off west Africa

The recent first oil from ExxonMobil's Kizomba A development in Angola's deep waters is also the first flow through a tension-leg platform in the Gulf of Guinea, and another such platform is under construction. The firm's unusual hybrid development scheme has challenged the supremacy of ship-based production facilities in the area, Martin Quinlan writes

EXXONMOBIL brought its Kizomba A project—a joint development of the Hungo and Chocalho fields in Angola's deep-water Block 15—on stream in August. The project is the largest development implemented in the Gulf of Guinea—and the most costly, with a price-tag of $3.4bn. In return, ExxonMobil (holding 40% of the venture), BP (26.67%), Eni (20%) and Statoil (13.33%) will benefit from plateau crude production of 250,000 barrels a day (b/d), flowing from recoverable reserves of about 1bn barrels. Among the firsts claimed for Kizomba A is the first use of a tension-leg platform (TLP) in the Gulf of Guinea, as part of a hybrid development scheme, which also includes the world's largest floating prod