Two key strategies for managing and executing large-scale capital projects have been employed recently for West Africa deepwater developments. Design One, Build Multiple, and the Early Production System (EPS) allow leveraging of lessons learned across multiple deepwater projects and reduce project cycle time, cost, and development risks. The, Design One, Build Multiple, strategy has been employed for the large Kizomba A and B developments in Angola and smaller EPS projects, such as Yoho (Nigeria), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), and Xikomba (Angola).
Construction of two nearly identical Kizomba floating production, storage, and offloading vessels (FPSOs) and tension- leg platforms (TLPs) required a different approach from traditional stand-alone projects. Key implementation success factors included continuity between projects and strict adherence to change control. This strategy resulted in significant cost savings and schedule contraction for the Kizomba B project.
Use of the EPS strategy during development of Xikomba demonstrated that this approach can be effectively applied for relatively small, remote resources that are not readily accessible to existing infrastructure. The depletion plan was modified to utilize an existing FPSO design rather than designing a new FPSO to match an optimized depletion plan. Project cycle time was only 19 months. EPS can thus reduce development risk in cases of significant resource uncertainty.
The Angola Block 15 development has been a flagship for deepwater development in the industry. The speed with which the Kizomba B project was brought on-line set industry records for construction and production ramp-up. This fast-track development would not have been possible without the early management decision to create a single design for Block 15 offshore platforms, production vessels, and subsea systems and to use that design for multiple projects.
The development of Angola Block 15 provides a prime example for successful application of the, Design One, Build Multiple, strategy, which was employed in the construction of FPSOs; TLPs; and subsea umbilical, riser, and flowline (SURF) systems for the Kizomba A and B projects. This strategy can be coupled with the EPS strategy to accelerate first oil in a development area. In Block 15, this collaboration of strategies was demonstrated in the application of EPS at Xikomba.
