Exxon Mobil Corporation announced today that its subsidiary, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited (Esso), has started production of the Xikomba deepwater development offshore Angola Block 15. Xikomba is the company's first production on Block 15 and represents the first of several anticipated operated production facilities offshore Angola.
Located in the northwest corner of Angola Block 15, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northwest of Luanda in water depths of up to 4,850 feet (1,480 meters), Xikomba employs an Early Production System consisting of nine subsea wells tied back to a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. Xikomba is the third deployment of ExxonMobil's Early Production System (EPS) Technology offshore West Africa and the first EPS offshore Angola.
Commenting on the announcement, Rex W. Tillerson, senior vice president, Exxon Mobil Corporation, said, "The Xikomba Early Production System gives us a major advantage in accelerating production in Angola. We are clearly an industry leader in the use of this technology, and it is allowing us to produce oil in the smaller Xikomba field on Block 15 while permanent facilities for the much larger Kizomba A project are being completed."
The Xikomba project included the awarding of contracts and subcontracts to Angolan companies to provide in-country fabrication, logistics support, training, and development and employment of Angolan nationals. These contracts support sustained growth in Angolan capacity and expertise to support future oil and gas developments.
The Xikomba field was discovered in 1999 and has estimated recoverable resources of approximately 100 million barrels of oil with a target production of 80,000 barrels per day.
In addition to Xikomba, ExxonMobil has previously announced two world-class deepwater developments on Block 15 that incorporate the Corporation's "design one-build two" approach, which provides significant time and cost savings. Kizomba A and Kizomba B, both $3.4 billion developments, together have estimated recoverable resources of approximately two billion barrels of oil and a combined target production of 500,000 barrels of oil per day. First oil from Kizomba A is scheduled for 2004; Kizomba B first oil is expected in early 2006.
ExxonMobil has a leading position in nearly all the major exploration and production areas in the world. The company is also a leading holder of deepwater acreage in the world's most attractive deepwater regions, including West Africa where it has interests in 15 blocks totaling almost 12 million gross acres. In Angola, ExxonMobil holds interests in six offshore deepwater blocks covering in excess of 7 million gross acres.
The Company and its co-venturers have announced 35 discoveries in Angola on Blocks 15, 17, 31, and 32, all of which represent significant additions to the Company's resource base in Angola, which is now estimated at more than 10.5 billion oil-equivalent barrels (gross).
In addition to Esso (Operator, 40 percent), other participants in Block 15 are BP Exploration (Angola) Limited (26.67 percent), Agip Angola Exploration B.V. (20 percent), and Statoil Angola (13.33 percent). Sonangol is the concessionaire.
