Sangomar Senegal’s first off shore oil development project

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Woodside Energy has announced the completion of the construction of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit for the Sangomar Field in Senegal.

Dubbed the Leopold Sédar Senghor FPSO, after Senegal’s first president, the facility is capable of producing 100,000 barrels of oil per day. It is now being shipped from China to Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine Tuas Yard where topsides integration and commissioning work will be done.

The multinational supplier and operator of offshore floating platforms, MODEC, received the FPSO supply contract in 2020. COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, a Chinese offshore marine engineering company, completed the unit’s hull and marine works. It also completed the external turret, topsides module installation, and conversion work on the vessel.

However, BOMESC Offshore Engineering, an engineering, procurement, and construction company, manufactured the topside modules in 2019.

Remarks on the FPSO construction for Sangomar Field in Senegal

CEO of Woodside Energy, Meg O’Neill stated, “Throughout this stage of development, the Chinese yards have shown excellent safety performance. Clocking more than 16 million hours of challenging construction labor without a lost-time injury incident.

The construction crews also handled the difficulties presented by travel and logistical restrictions brought on by the pandemic successfully during 2021 and 2022. Ensuring the FPSO stayed on track for start-up at the Sangomar field in late 2023.”

The Sangomar Field in Senegal, which is currently around 70% finished, is the first offshore oil development in Senegal. The Senegalese government, however, authorized the plan for the field development in 2020.

The field, which has estimated recoverable resources of nearly 630m barrels of oil, is located in water depths of 1,100m. It is about 100 kilometers south of Dakar, the capital of Senegal. Additionally, it will consist of 23 wells and support subsea infrastructure, with the possibility of future expansion.

Woodside Energy manages the Sangomar Field Development and owns an 82% stake in it. Petrosen, the national oil company of Senegal, retains the remaining stake.

Summary 

Name:                   Sangomar offshore oil field development

Location:               Senegal

Type:                     Offshore deepwater oilfield

Owner:                  Capricorn Senegal (36.44%,), Woodside Energy (31.89%)

FAR (13.67%) and PETROSEN (18%)

Operator:               Woodside Energy

Construction:         2020-2023

Reported earlier

First offshore oil development in Senegal set for construction

March 2019

Senegal is set to construct its first floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels following awarding of the development contract to MODEC International, a supplier, and operator of offshore floating platforms.

Under the contract which was awarded by the Australian company Woodside Energy, the operator of the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore, and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture containing the SNE field, MODEC will carry out the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the FPSO.

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Floating production storage and offloading vessel

The FPSO project is located in the Sangomar Deep Offshore permit area, approximately 100km south of Dakar, Senegal. It will be designed to produce around 100000 BPD and will be moored in a water depth of approximately 800m.

The contract is expected to be extended for the supply, charter, and operations of the FPSO, which in 2019 will be subjected to a final investment decision on the project. According to MODEC, numerous offshore oil fields have been discovered in West Africa in recent years but consider this to be one of its most important core regions.

The SNE field is held by Woodside Energy (Senegal) (35%) as the operator, Cairn Energy Senegal (40%), FAR Limited (15%), and PETROSEN (10%) under a Production Sharing Contract (PSC)

Jul 2021

Sangomar offshore oil field phase 1 development to begin this month, Senegal

Sangomar offshore oil field phase 1 development is expected to begin this month (July 2021). This is according to Woodside Energy, the project operator. Woodside is one of the members of the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore, and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint ventures.

RSSD is developing the entire Sangomar offshore oil field, which is located in the Rufisque, Sangomar, and Sangomar Deep Blocks. Reportedly, the field has a total area of 7,490km² within the Senegalese portion of the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea Bissau Basin.

Other members of the RSSD JV include Capricorn Senegal Limited (a subsidiary of Cairn Energy PLC) FAR Limited and Societé des Petroles du Sénégal (Petrosen).

An overview of the Sangomar offshore oil field phase 1 development

This phase features the deployment of a permanently moored floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility. The facility will be supplied by MODEC, a leading provider of solutions to the Floating Offshore Oil & Gas market.

Also Read: New oil discovery made on Eban exploration prospect, offshore Ghana

With a length of between 250m and 325m, the FPSO will be installed at a water depth of 800m. The oil storage tank of the FPSO unit will have the capacity to hold up to one million barrels of processed oil.

In addition, this phase will also involve drilling 23 oil production wells and the installation of associated subsea systems. The subsea system will comprise wellheads and subsea trees, 9km to 22km in-line tees, and up to six manifolds. Moreover, it will include flowlines, and risers ranging from 50km to 150km (connecting to the FPSO). Furthermore, it will include 15km to 50km of flowline end terminals and 15km to 70km of umbilicals for the monitoring of the wells.

Noteworthy, the FPSO will hold the tie-backs of the oil production wells, along with water injection and gas interjection wells. Upon completion, this phase will target approximately 230 million barrels of crude oil bringing Senegal’s first offshore oil development into service.

Sep 2022

Construction of Sangomar offshore oil field’s FPSO well underway

The construction of the Sangomar offshore oil field’s Floating, Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) facility is well underway. This was recently announced by Woodside Energy’s Senior Vice President of the project, Paul Sullivan.

Reportedly, modules are progressively being completed and installed on the vessel’s topside. Additionally, the workforce and training of local Senegalese operators have commenced. Moreover, the complex’s subsea system structures have all been constructed and transported to Dakar.

Logistical and supply services are being provided by local businesses together with established contractors. Speaking on this milestone, Sullivan said that at Woodside, they understand the importance of supporting strong local content. In addition, sustainable local supply chains deliver benefits for local communities.

Supporting Senegal’s aspiration to become an emerging market economy by 2035

“For the Government of Senegal”, the senior VC added, “developing its offshore hydrocarbon resources supports its aspiration to become an emerging market economy by 2035. The Sangomar joint venture has always been committed to delivering economic benefits to the West African country.

This is the first offshore development and a new industry for Senegal. Therefore, a focused effort to target opportunities within the project schedule has allowed substantial local content achievements to be realized across the project value chain.”

In addition to the FPSO, Woodside is drilling oil wells. There are two rigs working in sequence to complete the batched drilling program. The two rigs in the Sangomar field are the Ocean Blackhawk and the Ocean Blackrhino.  The first drilling program has already been completed.

First oil production is targeted for 2023.