Abo Field: Flow Assurance And Operability Strategies Needed In Deepwater Development Available to Purchase

NAE (Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd), an ENI group Company, is carrying out the development of the Abo Field located in the southern portion of the block OPL 316, approximately 55 km from the Nigerian coast in water depth ranging from 450 to 750 m. Nae, which is the field operator, has the major participation share, while SNEPCO (Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd) is the second partner. The development scenario foresees an FPSO with subsea production system, based on three production wells, two water injection wells and one gas injection/disposal well. During the basic design development, extensive flow assurance studies have been performed: both steady state and transient conditions have been simulated using OLGA-2000 dynamic model. The main critical conditions, related to Flow Assurance requirements, have been identified and a methodology, to avoid or minimise risks related to sealine blockage, has been defined. In this paper both main aspects of the adopted flow assurance methodology and relevant results will be presented. These results have been used as starting point for the detailed engineering phase, giving a consistent framework for the different activities related to the subsurface, subsea and topside components.