Abstract
PAZFLOR is TOTAL's ongoing largest oil development, and was launched in December 2007. After the success of Girassol, Dalia and Rosa, PAZFLOR represents a major new step in the development of Block 17, offshore Angola as it will raise the installed production capacity of the Block to over 700,000 barrels per day.
PAZFLOR main technical challenge consists in producing two very different types of oils from four reservoirs, on a single FPSO. The heavy and viscous oil from the three Miocene reservoirs with low energy potential will be produced using the innovative technology of gas/liquid subsea separation.
The three subsea gas/liquid separation and pumping units on the sea bed will constitute a World Technology First for a development of this scale. After separation, the liquids will be pumped to the surface using hybrid pumps, specially designed and qualified for PAZFLOR. Such development scheme also allows a different strategy with respect to hydrates preservation based on depressurisation rather than live oil replacement.
The selection of a subsea gas/liquid separation concept raised new challenges, due to the relatively poor quality of the oil: a) the efficiency of the gas/liquid separation with viscous fluids, and b) the design of the subsea pumps which must be gas tolerant. Dedicated test programs were conducted in cooperation with oil industry partners and concluded in the qualification of a full scale hybrid pump as well as on separator internals.
