Abstract
With two different reservoirs – Miocene and Albian; a development combining brownfield and greenfield; two production platforms – a Floating Production Unit (FPU) and a Tension Leg Platform (TLP); and the collapse of the oil price during the project execution phase … Moho Nord operated by Total E&P Congo is a highly complex project. The objective of this paper is to show how Total managed to ensure the success of the project phase.
The development scheme of Moho Nord is above all an optimal response to the constraints imposed by the different reservoirs. Then, Total had to efficiently supervise this complex project during the industry downturn, while maximizing the local content in Congo, drawing on the best available technologies to reduce the environmental impact of the new installations, and developing innovations notably to be able to simultaneously drill, intervene and produce the complex Albian reservoirs.
Total successfully completed this large and complex project, including the first TLP for the Group in Africa. Production started in March 2017 less than four years after the Final Investment Decision (FID). Three floating units are involved: the already existing FPU Alima and the new-build FPU Likouf with a typical subsea production layout, and the TLP with surface trees. Production is sent onshore to the existing terminal at Djeno.
To meet the challenge of a dual development comprising brownfield and greenfield sites, Total created an integrated muti-discipline team to work on the upgrade of FPU Alima and its subsea network, modifications to the Djeno terminal, and the construction of the new FPU and TLP units. Packages for Umbilicals, Flowlines Risers (UFR), Subsea Production System (SPS), Geosciences, Drilling, and Support services were shared across the whole development.
The main contracts were signed in 2013 before the oil price collapse and Total had to rely on the expertise and creativity of its teams and contractors to manage the project through difficult times, without compromising success and safety.
With the Moho Nord project Total has demonstrated its capacity to manage a large, complex brownfield and greenfield project to time and budget even in a difficult economic climate.