Financial Energy Review
TotalEnergies’ Egina is the flagship offshore project that is for six years now is still constantly going through innovations to meet the challenges associated with ultra-deep offshore projects.
One such example is the Vclay subsea production system that gives the teams more in-depth information and a more accurate understanding of the reservoir and the well positions.
Located some 130 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria at water depths of more than 1,500 meters, the Egina oil field is one of the TotalEnergies most ambitious ultra-deep offshore projects. Primarily developed locally to accelerate the pace of Nigeria’s industrial fabric and the transfer of technology, the project produces 200,000 barrels of oil per day, about 10 percent of the Nigeria’s total oil production.
Discovered in 2003, the Egina field is located at water depths of between 1,400 and 1,700 meters, 200 kilometers offshore from Port Harcourt. It is operated by TotalEnergies, which has a 24 percent stake, in partnership with NNPC, CNOOC, Sapetro and Petrobras.
The project is based on a subsea production system connected to a FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading vessel) designed to hold 2.3 million barrels of oil. Weighing close to 220,000 metric tons and measuring 330 meters long by 60 meters wide, the Egina FPSO is the largest ever built by TotalEnergies. The FPSO is connected to 44 subsea wells 1,600 meters deep and will produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
The water depth poses a challenge for the development of Egina, which is one of the deepest offshore projects ever operated by TotalEnergies.
Operating ultra-deep offshore projects require specific expertise given the difficult conditions caused by high pressure and low temperatures. Drawing on nearly 20 years of experience, TotalEnergies is the world leader in the field, producing more than 800,000 barrels per day. All told, ultra-deep offshore projects account for 40 percent of TotalEnergies total oil and gas production.
It is said that with Egina, Africa is host to one of the world’s largest oil and gas projects for the first time. For TotalEnergies, the stakes are high, particularly because their commitment to host communities and country is one of the keys to the company’s success.
TotalEnergies local economic development policy focuses on three main areas: hiring and training local people, purchasing local goods and services, and developing local infrastructures.
TotalEnergies, the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the main project contractors have set themselves an ambitious objective: to train more than 200 Nigerian students as engineers and technicians, in order to develop their skills and improve their career prospects.
More than half of the people involved in building the project infrastructure were Nigerian, and close to 77 percent of the hours worked on the project have been onsite in Port Harcourt or in Lagos.
Lastly, infrastructure in the country has been extended and enhanced, notably via the construction of a 500-meter-long dock to assemble the FPSO. Once it has served this purpose, the dock will be available for other industrial projects.
A win-win partnership that should enable TotalEnergies and Nigeria to continue together on an adventure that began more than 50 years ago
