Woodside Starts Feed on Senegal's SNE Field
Australian producer, Woodside, said December 17 that it and its partners have begun front-end engineering design (Feed) activities on the SNE field phase 1 offshore Senegal, northwest Africa. The project, which is targeting a final investment decision next year, will involve oil production, with the option of subsequently piping gas to shore.
It follows the award of the subsea Feed contract for that offshore development to Subsea Integration Alliance, a joint venture of OneSubsea, Schlumberger and Subsea 7. More Feed contracts are targeted for award in early 2019. A final investment decision for SNE phase 1 is targeted for mid-2019, said Woodside. Partners in the Rufisque Offshore, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) offshore licences are Woodside as operator, UK independent Cairn Energy, small Australian independent FAR, and state-owned PetroSen.
Starting Feed activities follows approval by the Senegalese petroleum minister of Woodside assuming the role of operator, and the RSSD joint venture’s submission of the SNE field development plan to the government two months ago. The SNE development concept is a standalone floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) facility with supporting subsea infrastructure. It will be designed to allow subsequent development phases, including options for gas export to shore and for future subsea tiebacks from other fields.
Phase 1 will target an estimated 230mn barrels of oil resources (P50 gross) from the lower, less complex reservoirs and an initial phase in the upper reservoirs. The FPSO is expected by Woodside to have a capacity of around 100,000 b/d (although partner Far said it would be 90,000 b/d) with first oil production targeted in 2022. Woodside added that the RSSD joint venture continues to progress project financing, plus the environmental and social impact assessment.
FAR's managing director, Cath Norman, said that to progress from discovery to entering Feed within four years was a "substantial achievement" for the joint venture.