Sangomar oil project moves ahead with Senegalese govt approval

The Senegalese government has approved the development and exploitation plan for the Sangomar oil project in the African country’s territorial waters submitted by Woodside Petroleum and its partners.

Operating as the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) joint venture, the partners have been given the exploitation authorization for the development of the associated Sangomar oil field.

The stakeholders in the Sangomar oil project are Woodside Petroleum’s subsidiary Woodside Energy (Senegal), the operator with a stake of 35%, Capricorn Senegal, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, which has 40% stake, FAR, which has 15% stake, and the Senegalese national oil company Petrosen, which has the remaining stake of 10%.

Discovered in 2014, the Senagalese oil field (previously known as SNE field) located in the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea Bissau Basin will be developed in multiple phases.

The Sangomar oil field is estimated to produce its first oil in early 2023.

Sangomar oil project moves forward with Senegalese govt approval. Image courtesy of Gordon Johnson from Pixabay.

According to Woodside Petroleum, the Sangomar oil project is estimated to yield 645 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) made up of 485 mmbbl of oil and 160 mmboe of gas.

Phase 1 of the first-ever offshore oil project in Senegal will see the installation of a stand-alone floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel and associated subsea infrastructure. As part of the first phase field development, 23 subsea wells will be drilled by the Sangomar FPSO.

The first phase of the Sangomar oil field development will aim to unlock an estimated 230 MMbbl of oil.

The FPSO for the Sangomar oil project is designed to have a production capacity of about 100,000 bbl/day. Its design is expected to accommodate the integration of additional infrastructure in the subsequent development phases of the Sangomar oil project, to enable gas export to shore, future subsea tie-backs from other fields and reservoirs, among others.

Commenting on the Sangomar oil field project, Peter Coleman – Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said: “We look forward to progressing the project towards first oil in early 2023 and expect that our experience in offshore FPSO developments will support its delivery on cost and schedule.

“We are grateful for the ongoing support of the Government of Senegal and will be working with all stakeholders to ensure that the country’s first oil project delivers enduring benefits to its people.”

Woodside Petroleum had given the supply contract for the FPSO to MODEC. The Subsea Integration Alliance, formed by Subsea 7 and OneSubsea, bagged a contract to construct and install integrated subsea production systems and subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines for the Sangomar oil project.

Also, Diamond Offshore won a couple of well-based contracts for the drill rigs Ocean BlackRhino and Ocean BlackHawk for the development of the Senegalese oil field.