Chevron strikes first oil at Lianzi

First oil has begun to flow at Chevron’s Lianzi development offshore the Republic of Congo and Angola, the company announced on Monday. The project is expected to produce an average of 40,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Lianzi field is operated by Chevron’s subsidiary Chevron Overseas Congo, and is the super-major’s first operated asset in the Republic of Congo. In previous statements, the company has said the project would cost around $2 billion and target around 67 million barrels of reserves.

The Lianzi field sits at a water depth of around 900 metres and is located around 105 kilometres off the coast of central Africa in the Joint Development Zone, a 696-square-kilometre area for oil exploration agreed on between the governments of Republic of Congo and Angola.

“As the first offshore energy development spanning national boundaries in the Central Africa region, Lianzi represents a unique co-operative approach to share offshore resources and may serve as a model for the development of similar cross-border fields between two countries,” Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production, said in a statement.

In 2012, Congo and Angola signed an agreement that splits Lianzi revenues 50/50 between stakeholders of Angola’s block 14 and Congo’s Haute Mer licence. Chevron has a combined 31.75-percent interest through Chevron Overseas Congo (15.75 percent) and subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (15.5 percent). Total has a combined 36.75-percent interest through Total E&P Congo (26.75 percent) and affiliate Angola Block 14 (10 percent). Italian major Eni and Angolan national oil company <a href=’https://theenergyyear.com/companies-institutions/sonangol/’>Sonangol each hold 10 percent. Congolese state player Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo holds 7.5 percent, and Portugal’s Galp 4.5 percent.