Plan, project, proceed in Angola

Do you expect more brownfield projects going forward given that there are no large projects sanctioned at the moment?
Yes, there will be brownfields, tiebacks, step-outs and tie-ins, and life of field, broadly speaking, which could mean production enhancement, de-bottlenecking, field performance monitoring, well stimulation and Christmas tree integrity activities. Activities such as IRM [inspection, repair and maintenance] is also a big focus from a business development perspective.

What needs to happen in Angola to ensure that production stays up?
What we need to see is a clear strategy that goes beyond a block-by-block regime to promote the enhancement of production and a novel view on what we need to do to increase production or at least to guarantee that production is not going to fall. It takes a long time to put a new project on stream, even if it is a tieback. You need to compensate for that, and you need to do that with synergies between the operators and between the blocks. There are needs for some master guidance or overall roadmap. It does not need to be extremely detailed, but it has to pass on the expectations of the Angolan government to the operators so that we can also adapt the offer to the industry and get it to do large projects.

What expertise can you bring to Angola if gas projects are sanctioned?
We are a world leader in FLNG, which requires the integration of technologies from all of TechnipFMC’s core activities: LNG process, offshore facilities and subsea infrastructure. TechnipFMC’s leading position within these sectors and unique technology makes us a partner of choice for this emerging market. We have subsea separation and subsea boosting capabilities, which are needed for tiebacks projects as well. We are able to provide studies on gas monetisation and we have in our portfolio a number of solutions which include gas liquefaction plants of all sizes.

Are Block 17 and Kaombo currently your two biggest projects?
Overall yes, however we have also worked a lot on Block 15/06 for Eni. Legacy FMC provided all the subsea production systems on the East Hub and the flowlines, risers and umbilicals were mostly provided and installed by legacy Technip on the West Hub. Legacy Technip worked primarily on the SURF [subsea umbilicals risers and flowlines] side, significantly on Block 31 for BP, Block 15 for Exxon and Block 14 for Chevron.
The most recent project we are working on is Kaombo on Block 32. It is one of the largest subsea projects we have executed here. It involved our Angoflex facility for the manufacturing of the umbilicals, our Dande spoolbase for the rigid pipes and Heerema Porto Amboim yard for the fabrication of jumpers.

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