LUANDA, July 20, 2016 – The Angola LNG export plant has reportedly been shut down until late-August for final tests, traders said on Wednesday. The facility had recently been restarted after a two-year closure to correct design flaws.

The trade sources cited by Reuters also said the Chevron-operated plant should reach full capacity by September. Since the much-anticipated reopening of the refurbished plant in June, four cargoes were exported, less than half the expected volume.

Chevron leads the Angola LNG venture on a 36.4% stake, with Sonangol holding 22%. The others partners include BP, Eni and Total.

Chevron also heads the Gorgon LNG Project in Western Australia. Chevron and its partners Shell and ExxonMobil shipped their first LNG cargo in March, but mechanical problems halted output two weeks later. In early July, a gas leak forced another shutdown. According to a Chevron statement released on Wednesday, “start-up activities are underway on Gorgon Train 1, with production to recommence shortly.”

Construction on trains 2 and 3 is ongoing, with start-up expected by year-end 2016 and the first half of 2017, respectively. The largest such venture in Australian history, the LNG development has been marred by cost overruns. Originally pegged at some USD 37 billion in 2009, the project is now valued USD 54 billion.

Eni SPA has made an  oil discovery on Block 15/06 in the Ochigufu exploration prospect offshore Angola. It is the 10th commercial oil discovery for the block, and is estimated to hold 300 million bbl of oil in place.

The Ochigufu 1 NFW well was directionally drilled by the Ocean Rig Poseidon drilling unit in 1,337 m of water, reaching a total depth of 4,470 m. Eni says it found 47 m of proved net oil pay of 34° gravity in the Lower Miocene and Oligocene sandstones.

Data acquired in Ochigufu 1 indicate a production capacity of more than 5,000 b/d of oil. Studies are under way to evaluate an early tie-in to the 100,000-b/d Ngoma floating production, storage, and offloading vessel that lies in the nearby West Hub oil development project, which would enable Ochigufu 1 to be “brought into production in record time,” the company says.

Separately, production startup of the West Hub project is expected by yearend. The East Hub oil development project has also been sanctioned.

Eni is operator of the Block 15/06 with 35% interest. Partners are Sonangol P&P 30%, SSI Fifteen Ltd. 25%, Falcon Oil Holding Angola SA 5%, and Statoil Angola Block 15/06 5%. Eni also operates Block 35 in the deepwater Kwanza basin off Angola.

STAVANGER, Norway – Statoil has failed to find hydrocarbons with its first presalt well in the Kwanza basin offshore Angola.

The drillship Stena Carron drilled Dilolo-1 in block 39. Despite the result, Statoil says the exercise provided a valuable calibration for other prospects in the area.

After P&A’ing the well, Stena Carron will transfer to block 38 to spud the Jacaré-1 exploration well. Statoil is also participating in two more wells in the Kwanza basin. These are the Puma well in block 25 (operated by Total) and the Locosso well in block 22 (operated by Repsol).

LEIDSCHENDAM, the Netherlands – To accommodate the future needs of the rapidly growing Angola offshore oil and gas industry, Fugro has opened its new facility in the SONILS Oil Service Centre in Luanda. Angola is now the second largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa, after Nigeria.

The facility comprises a building area of 7,000 sq m (75,347 sq ft), and it features a two-story administrative building that includes offices, conference rooms, a training facility, and a staff canteen. Attached to the office building is a warehouse facility of 2,500 sq m (26,910 sq ft) with a 20-ton (18-metric-ton) overhead crane and storage space, as well as workshops for equipment testing and maintenance, a dedicated area for subsea equipment and ROV tooling, and a geotechnical laboratory.

JOHANNESBURG, March 20 (Reuters) – Angola expects oil output to average 1.84 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, up 10 percent from 1.67 million bpd in 2014, according a revised 2015 budget passed by parliament on Thursday, the state news agency said.

Angola’s parliament voted heavily in favour of passing a revised 5.4 trillion kwanza ($51 billion) 2015 budget, cutting spending by 1.8 trillion kwanza from its original plans due to a halving of oil prices since June last year.

The revised budget figures are based on an oil price of $40 per barrel rather than the $81 previously forecast and predicts a budget deficit of 7 percent of GDP.

Oil accounts for around half of Angola’s GDP, 80 percent of tax revenues and 90 percent of export earnings.

Angola’s state-oil company Sonangol lay out ambitious plans to increase oil production last month after what it called a “very difficult” 2014 as cost cuts soared, prices slumped and technical problems hit output.

The OPEC-member has missed its oil production target of 2 million bpd for several years due to project delays and disappointing levels of investment as oil majors scaled back exploration projects due to the global economic downturn.

Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Total, BP and China’s Sinopec are all major producers in Africa’s second largest oil exporter.

ABERDEEN, UK –Applus RTD has won a contract from Heerema Marine Contractors as part of the Kaombo development offshore Angola.

As part of the largest ultra-deepwater SURF (subsea, umbilicals, risers, flowlines) development, Applus RTD will provide non-destructive testing for offshore flowlines and risers, as well as testing onshore multi-jointing tie-ins using its RTD Rotoscan AUT (automated ultrasonic testing) Phased Array System.

The Applus RTD divisions involved are Applus RTD the Netherlands, Applus RTD USA – Houston, and Applus+ Velosi. The project will take place both on- and offshore in Angola.

HOUSTON–Doris Engineeringhas been involved in one major expansion/upgrade program and studies for three new field developments offshore Angola. Company officials, exhibiting at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, providedOffshorewith an update on these projects.

Presently, the company is working for operator Total on the Dalia debottlenecking project in block 17 offshore Angola. Dalia was the company’s second deepwater hub development on the block, producing first oil at the end of 2006 through a 264,000-b/d capacity FPSO. In addition, the facility is designed to handle 405,000 b/d of liquids from low-gravity Upper Miocene turbidite reservoirs, and to supply a similar volume of injection water, along with 240,000 b/d of seawater.

Dalia’s subsea production system currently comprises 37 oil producer wells on four loops; three gas injectors on two gas injection lines; and 31 water injectors on four injection lines. Total plans a series of new developments including further infill/stepout wells (Phase 1a); tie-ins of additional reservoirs and extension of water injection (Phase 1b); debottlenecking of the liquid process chain and improvements to water injection (Doris’ responsibility); and a notional drilling phase to saturate the available well slots (Phase 2).

The main aim of the debottlenecking is to restore the liquid treatment and water injection capacities to the initial design parameters. A secondary aim is to extend the oil production plateau and to compensate for the lack of reservoir pressure support provided by water injection previously.

“The program involves numerous modifications to existing equipment on the FPSO,” Doris chairman Loïc des Déserts said, “and adding new equipment to maintain the plateau. There is much more work to do compared with Total’s previous upgrades to theGirassolFPSO in the same block.”

Last December, Eni produced first oil from the West Hub development in block 15/06, 130 km (81 mi) west of Soyo, via the 100,000-b/d capacityN’GomaFPSO. The development calls for progressive tie-ins of at least six fields in water depths of 1,000-1,500 m (3,281-4,921 ft), with 21 wells initially over three of the discoveries. Doris provided support for and an independent review of various subsea components of SURF contractor Technip’s EPCI detailed design for the Mpungi tieback (flowlines, pipeline end terminations and spools).

Additionally, the company undertook front-end engineering design for a subsea multi-phase boosting station and for a tie-in of the Vandumbu field; conceptual studies for a future tie-in of the recent 300-MMbbl Ochigufu discovery; and a gas export system connecting to the Angola LNG network.

Eni’s East Hub project, another FPSO-based development in the same block, is due to come onstream in 2017. Here, Doris has provided support for and an independent review of Saipem’s EPCI detailed design, including the flexible risers and umbilicals, flowlines, PLETS, and spools. Additionally, it has performed engineering for future tie-ins focused on the risers (interfacing with the ongoing FPSO detailed engineering) and the field layout.

In Angola’s offshore block 14, Doris’ Houston and Luanda branches have completed the scope for the FEED for tying back the 2006 Malange discovery to Cabinda Gulf Oil Co.’s Tombua Landana compliant tower, 14 km (8.7 mi) to the southwest. Water depths range from 244 to 366 m (800 to 1,200 ft). The current plan is to install two subsea production centers and a single well mid tie-in, with equipment including riser base gas lift and chemical injection systems. However, the project is currently on hold due to the lower oil price.

Reuters recently reported that the Angola LNG export facility has shut down for maintenance, and that it was not expected to recommence operations at full capacity until late August 2016. Now,Reuters claims that the plant is actually expected to resume operations in late September.

The facility has shut down so that scheduled testing and maintenance work can be carried out. Reuters reports that this will be the final stage of testing before the facility can resume operations at full output.

A spokeswoman for the Chevron-led plant reportedly said: “I can confirm that the Angola LNG plant is now in a planned shutdown.

“This is part of the restart and commissioning programme and is standard practice in new LNG plants.”

Edited from various sources by David Rowlands

Reuters recently reported that the Angola LNG export facility has shut down for maintenance, and that it was not expected to recommence operations at full capacity until late August 2016. Now,Reuters claims that the plant is actually expected to resume operations in late September.

The facility has shut down so that scheduled testing and maintenance work can be carried out. Reuters reports that this will be the final stage of testing before the facility can resume operations at full output.

A spokeswoman for the Chevron-led plant reportedly said: “I can confirm that the Angola LNG plant is now in a planned shutdown.

“This is part of the restart and commissioning programme and is standard practice in new LNG plants.”

Edited from various sources by David Rowlands

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 21

By Maksim Tsurkov :

Angola’s Sonangol Hidrocarbonetos İnternacional oil and gas company is interested in cooperation with the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), said the message from SOCAR.

The remarks were made during a meeting of SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev with the director general of Sonangol Hidrocarbonetos İnternacional Federico Domingos and deputy director general Filomena Oliveira in Baku.

During the meeting, the representatives of the Angolan delegation expressed interest in cooperation with SOCAR.

Abdullayev, for his part, said that great opportunities and a favorable investment climate have been created in Azerbaijan for the operation of international companies and cooperation with the Angolan company will make a great contribution to the development of relations between the two countries.

London (Platts)–6 Jul 2016 707 am EDT/1107 GMT

Published in Oil Industry News on Friday, 8 July 2016

GC Rieber Shipping has secured a time charter agreement with Technip Angola for the SURF vessel Polar Onyx.

The vessel will conduct SURF and construction duties in Angola. The charter starts prompt and lasts for up to two months.

GC Rieber noted that the charter is in direct continuation from the previous charter in UK sector where the vessel worked for the marine solutions and specialist engineering service provider James Fisher Marine Services.

“This is an interesting contract for us where the operational capabilities of the vessel and her equipment get fully utilized. Technip’s strong presence in West Africa makes the contract strategically important to us, and we look forward to cooperating with them also in this region,” says CEO Irene Waage Basili.

The SX121 designed offshore construction vessel Polar Onyx was delivered in March 2014 from Ulstein Verft. The vessel is designed to operate in the SURF/Construction/IRM markets, with high capacity for flexible pipe loads.

Source: www.offshoreenergytoday.com

Offshore staff

WILMSLOW, UK – Exmar has contracted EM&I for diverless underwater inspections on the Kissama accommodation barge operating offshore Cabinda, Angola.

According to Graham Cross, EM&I special projects director, this will involve the first use of the company’s ODIN system on a Bureau Veritas-classed vessel.

07/01/2016

Angola’s state-run oil giant Sonangol, recently taken over by the president’s daughter, has announced a gas discovery in the offshore Kwanza Basin that could hold 813 million barrels of oil equivalent, news agencies report.

The discovery is in Block 20/11 and BP Plc holds an interest in this block along with the Angolan state company.

According to Sonangol, the block holds an estimated 313 million barrels of condensate and 2.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Despite Angola’s dire economic straits, this is the seventh recent discovery.

This follows up on the initial news of the discovery, announced in April by Sonangol and later in May by U.S. operator Cobalt. Cobalt had unveiled the discovery of condensates and natural gas in the Zalophus #1 well in Block 20 offshore Angola, in the sixth pre-salt discovery offshore Angola, and the third such in this same block.

The new estimates are significantly higher than earlier estimates. When the initial discovery was made in late April, Sonangol had stated: “The test results confirm the presence of gas and condensate, and estimated post-drilling resources of 139 million barrels of condensate and 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, for a total of 570 million barrels of oil equivalent”. Related: Get Ready For $80 Oil

Cobalt is currently the operator of the block with a 40 percent stake in partnership, while state-run Sonangol holds 30 percent and BP Exploration Angola holds 30 percent.

In April, Sonangol also discovered huge reserves of oil and natural gas, which according to initial estimates could produce up to 2 million barrels a day for three years.

Sonangol has not given the country any revenues since January, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said Wednesday on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers economic meeting, the Associated Press reported.

Africa’s largest oil producer—having recently overtaken Nigeria, whose production has dropped due to a resurgence of Niger Delta militancy—is reeling from low oil prices, with oil comprising about 45 percent of its GDP and over 95 percent of its exports.

Earlier in June, the president appointed his daughter, Isabel dos Santos, to run Sonangol amid much controversy.

By James Burgess of Oilprice.com

Offshore staff

LONDON – Bumi Armada has awarded Petrofac a three-year condition monitoring program for the FPSO Olombendo.

The vessel, currently under conversion in Singapore, will operate on Eni’s 15/06 East hub development offshore Angola.

Petrofac’s scope includes implementation of the program, training, providing an ABS initial submission report, monthly vibration and lube oil analysis, risk-based reporting, and hardware/software support via the company’s proprietary CBMnet system.

This is an internet-enabled management reporting system that allows clients to optimize maintenance and manage the risk to delivery of their business objectives through assessing the condition of their critical rotating machinery.

The system, hosted securely online and managed by Petrofac’s in-house team, has provided support for more than 92 facilities across 15 countries.

At 15/06 it will be used to provide recommendations to optimize maintenance activities in order to increase asset reliability and help Eni maximize production.

In May 2015, Bumi Armada contracted Petrofac to provide a maintenance management system for EnQuest’s Kraken FPSO, which will be deployed in the East Shetland basin in the UK North Sea.

06/09/2016

MILAN, Italy, May 5 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni announced Tuesday it was ahead of the curve with what its partners described as a breakthrough operation offshore Angola.

Eni holds a 20 percent stake in a section of the Kizomba project off the coast of Angola. The Italian company said production there has started ahead of schedule.

Kizomba is part of the country’s Kakocha, Bavuca and Mondo South fields.

“The project develops approximately 190 million barrels of oil with peak production currently estimated at 70,000 barrels of oil per day,” the Italian company said in a statement.

Adding Kizomba is expected to bring the total daily production from the complex to 350,000 barrels of oil.

Exxon Mobil serves as the operator alongside partners BP and Norwegian energy company Statoil.

BP last week said it expected to bring even more projects online off the coast of Angola later this year.

“[Kizomba] is the first of BP’s planned start-ups for 2015 and is another successful project from this prolific block,” Darryl Willis, BP’s regional president, said in a statement.

Angola is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC said Angola has proven crude oil reserves of 9 billion barrels and 9.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Since entering Angolan waters in 2006, Eni said it’s discovered more than 3 billion barrels of oil in place.

IRVING, Texas –ExxonMobil Corp.announced that its subsidiary,Esso Exploratoin AngolaLtd., has started oil production ahead of schedule at the Kizomba Satellites Phase 2 project offshore Angola.

The project is a subsea infrastructure development of the Kakocha, Bavuca, and Mondo South fields using the capabilities of existing block 15 facilities to increase current production levels without requiring additional FPSOs.

Mondo South is the first field to begin production, and the other two satellite fields are expected to start-up in the coming months. The field is being developed with tiebacks to theMondoFPSO, while the Kakocha and Bavuca fields are being developed with tiebacks to theKizomba BFPSO.

Mondo South will develop around 190 MMbbl of oil with peak production currently estimated at 70,000 b/d. The project is expected to increase total daily block 15 production to 350,000 bbl.

ExxonMobil was awarded block 15 in 1994 and, to date, has discovered a total of approximately 5 Bboe. Oil production from block 15 to-date has exceeded 1.8 Bbbl. Kizomba Satellites Phase 1 started production in 2012.

Operator Esso Angola has a 40% interest in block 15. Other co-venturers include BP Exploration Angola Ltd., with 26.67%, Eni Exploration Angola BV, with 20%, and Statoil Angola Block 15 AS, with 13.33%. Sonangol is the concessionaire.

Technip Angola Engenharia Limitada, a joint venture between Technip and Sonangol, was awarded by Total E&P Angola a three-year engineering services contract. This contract covers services for the existing Girassol, Pazflor, Dalia and CLOV floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units and associated subsea field development. These FPSOs are located in Block 17, offshore Angola.

The scope of work can comprise engineering, technical assistance, management, supervision and coordination, as well as procurement-related activities.

Technip Angola Engenharia Limitada will carry out the contract, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018.

Hallvard Hasselknippe, President Subsea of Technip, commented: “We have been entrusted by Total E&P Angola to deliver quality engineering services. It is the result of our sustainable presence in Angola with skilled engineering resources and comprehensive knowledge of our client’s technical referential and working methods. This contract reinforces our activity in Africa, an area with good dynamics. It also fits into our strategy to engage with our clients at early stages of their projects and build on long-lasting successful relationships.”

Technip is a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry.
From the deepest Subsea oil & gas developments to the largest and most complex Offshore and Onshore infrastructures, our close to 34,400 people are constantly offering the best solutions and most innovative technologies to meet the world’s energy challenges.
Present in 45 countries, Technip has state-of-the-art industrial assets on all continents and operates a fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline installation and subsea construction.

Oceaneering International, Inc. (“Oceaneering” or the “Company”) (NYSE:OII) announced today that a unit of BP p.l.c. (“BP”) (NYSE:BP) has exercised its right, under the Field Support Vessel Services contract that was entered into with the Company for work offshore Angola, to terminate its use of the chartered vessel Bourbon Oceanteam 101 at the end of May 2016. Prior to this notice, the work was scheduled to extend through the end of January 2017.

Under the terms of the contract, the costs incurred by Oceaneering associated with the early release and demobilization of the vessel are expected to be reimbursed by BP. Following the release of the vessel, Oceaneering intends to redeliver it to the vessel owner.

Project management, engineering, and vessel services work associated with the provision for a second chartered vessel, Ocean Intervention III, is expected to continue as previously contracted with BP offshore Angola through January 2017.

Oceaneering is a global provider of engineered services and products, primarily to the offshore oil and gas industry, with a focus on deepwater applications. Through the use of its applied technology expertise, Oceaneering also serves the defense, entertainment, and aerospace industries. Oceaneering is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “OII.”

Tremendous effort has been taken in the field of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) since the 1970s. Comparatively, enhanced gas recovery (EGR) is a recent concept that has taken shape owing to the increased demand of natural gas across the globe. During the producing life of a gas field, the reservoir follows many stages. Initially, when a gas field is brought into production, gas flow occurs naturally as there is existing reservoir pressure. As the reservoir pressure drops, Nitrogen (N) is typically injected to boost gas pressure in order to displace the gas. This method is known as enhanced gas recovery (EGR). The volume of gas recovered is generally 75% more than what is extracted without EGR. Extensive research is being undertaken in this field with regard to feasibility of extraction through carbon dioxide (CO2) as an effective element for EGR. This gives a dual benefit of enhanced gas production as well as creates an avenue for carbon sequestration under the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technique. The combination of carbon dioxide for enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR) and permanent carbon dioxide storage in oil and gas reservoirs has the potential to provide a critical near-term solution for reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

A varied range of factors drive the enhanced gas recovery (EGR) market. The most important driver for the market is the perpetually increasing worldwide demand and consumption for natural gas and methane. Another colossal factor is the need to reduce costs while increasing efficiency of a reservoir. Keeping that in mind, gas extraction and production (E&P) companies undertake this technique to maximize production and at the same time, increase the well pressure for swift extraction. Contrarily, the downside to EGR is that investments required, in putting the right mechanism in place, are capital-intensive and need extensive expertise to make the project viable. Also, injecting a gas for extraction, leads to carbon dioxide or nitrogen getting embedded with the natural gas. This gives rise to another process by which the extracted gas needs to be treated and separated from impurities, leading to additional costs for the producer. Constant development in this field will create avenues for newer and more efficient technologies that will drive the market in the future.

The enhanced gas recovery (EGR) market can be bifurcated based on the feedstock used to build the necessary pressure in the reservoir. Water pooling and nitrogen injection is the norm when it comes to EGR. But research conducted in recent years has also given rise to flue gas injection, or under the carbon sequestration schemes, carbon dioxide injection. The shift towards carbon dioxide injection has occurred due to recent findings that conclude that since CO2 is heavier than natural gas, it creates a pool under the reservoir rock after which the natural gas can be easily extracted.

Regionally, enhanced gas recovery is widespread, but mainly concentrated in the North American region, specifically the U.S., Canada, Greenland and Gulf of Mexico, due to the abundance of shale gas reserves. European gas producers are also putting measures in place to use EGR, mainly in Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the rest of the Arctic Sea region. Countries in the Asia Pacific region which have employed EGR are Japan, South Korea, China and Australia. Across the Rest of the World, Qatar, Libya, Angola and Nigeria have started planning procedures as well.

Some of the key companies opearting in the enhanced gas recovery market are: The Linde Group, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Praxair, Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, NALCO Energy Services and Tiorco, LLC.

About TMR

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company driven by high-pedigree consultants and researchers. TMR leverages its Syndicated Research, Custom Research, and Market Consulting expertise to help businesses make accurate decisions. TMR’s exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis draws on proprietary data sources and techniques, while their data repository is continuously updated to reflect the latest trends.

HAMILTON, Bermuda – Seadrill has secured a two-year drilling contract offshore Angola for the semisubmersible West Eclipse, due to start in 2Q 2016.

Currently the contractor’s backlog totals $5.1 billion, comprising $3.9 billion for its drilling floater fleet and $1.2 billion for its jackup fleet. The average contract duration is 18 months for floaters and 13 months for jackups.

The offshore drilling market continues to be oversupplied, Seadrill says, and contracting activity has sunk to levels last seen in the 1980s.

Oil company capex are expected to decline further in 2016, and Seadrill expects that the majority of rigs with contracts this year will not find suitable follow-on work. As a result, many will likely be idle for a prolonged period, accelerating cold stacking and scrapping activity.

For the time being oil companies will continue to work on managing their existing rig capacity, the contractor adds. In many cases they are over-committed due to reduced activity levels, and there is little demand for adding new rigs to the global fleet.

The general priority appears to be cost cutting to support dividend payments, and this is set to negatively impact the long-term production profiles of existing development projects.

Despite the industry’s subdued mood, Seadrill remains positive on the long-term outlook. Eventually a supply imbalance is inevitable, leading to a rebalancing in the oil markets, although this may take some time due to the high degree of sunk costs in producing projects.

Offshore oil fields represent a material portion of most major oil companies’ reserves, Seadrill points out, and their production remains a cost-competitive source of hydrocarbons. When the cycle turns the company foresees a strong future for its modern, high-spec fleet.

PARIS – Total E&P Angola has awarded Technip Angola Engenharia Ltda., a joint venture between Technip and Sonangol, a three-year engineering services contract.

The contract covers services for the existing Girassol, Pazflor, Dalia, and CLOV FPSO units and associated subsea field development. These FPSOs are located in block 17, offshore Angola.

The scope of work can comprise engineering, technical assistance, management, supervision and coordination, as well as procurement-related activities.

Technip Angola Engenharia Ltda. will carry out the contract, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018.

LUANDA, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Angola plans to increase its oil production by 20 percent by next year after suffering a “very difficult” 2014 as costs soared, prices slumped and technical problems hit output, the state oil company Sonangol said. Oil output from Africa’s second largest exporter and a supplier to China averaged 1.67 million barrels per day (bpd) last year, down 2.6 percent on 2013, Sonangol said in its annual results presentation on Wednesday. Gas output fell 29 percent after its liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant was hit by mechanical problems, helping reduce Sonangol’s net income to $710 million last year, down 77 percent from 2013. Sonangol plans to restart LNG exports by the end of this year and boost oil production to 2 million bpd by the first quarter of 2016, an ambitious plan in a year when it will slash $4 billion of costs due to lower oil and gas prices. The OPEC-member has missed its oil production target of 2 million bpd for several years due to project delays and disappointing levels of investment as oil majors scaled back exploration projects due to the global economic downturn. “2014 was a very difficult year,” Sonangol CEO Francisco de Lemos Maria told reporters in Luanda. “We need to make corrections and to re-evaluate our entire implementation strategy,” he added. Sonangol has secured the promise of a $2 billion loan from China to help with oil projects this year. Angola sends about half of its oil to China and Sonangol has a joint venture with Sinopec, China’s second biggest energy company. Oil accounts for around half of Angola’s GDP, 80 percent of tax revenues and 90 percent of export earnings. Beijing has issued several oil-backed loans to Angola dating back to 2003, a year after the African nation emerged from a 27-year civil war. Prior to this loan, China had lent Angola $14.5 billion since the war’s end. Angola is seeking to borrow a total of $10 billion abroad this year, including issuing a debut $1.5 billion Eurobond and tapping the World Bank for $1 billion. Parliament on Wednesday passed a revised 5.4 trillion kwanza ($51 billion) 2015 budget, cutting spending by 1.8 trillion kwanza from its original plans due to a drop in oil prices . Angola’s kwanza has weakened more than 7 percent in the last five months as oil prices weakened and foreign exchange supplies tightened. The kwanza was trading 0.3 percent weaker at 106 to the dollar by 0955 GMT, close to record lows.

Fugro, a provider of survey services to the international offshore oil and gas industry, will provide offshore survey and positioning services at the Kaombo oil development offshore Angola.

Under a contract awarded by Technip, Fugro will provide offshore deepwater survey and positioning services to a total of seven installation vessels and construction support vessels.

The contract starts in the second half of 2016 and is scheduled to continue until early 2018.

Kaombo, operated by Total, is located in ultra-deep water, up to 2,000 metres, and it features pre-lay and as-built surveys, ultra-accurate subsea positioning and metrologies using the largest subsea transponder array ever deployed, Fugro said.

Peter Boon, Fugro’s Business Development Manager for Africa, said: “Fugro and Technip have been working together successfully for many years and our innovative solutions have provided them with reliable data, ensuring successful construction operations. This project is no exception. Our extensive experience in Angola also enables us to support the Kaombo project from our local base with a team that includes competent Angolan nationals.”

The Kaombo project is a development at Block 32, located approximately 260 kilometres offshore Luanda in water depths ranging from 1,400 to 2,000 metres. It includes six fields which will be tied back to two converted FPSOs.

Cobalt International Energy, a Houston-based oil exploration and production company, will reduce its workforce by 50 percent when compared to its pre-Angola sale workforce.

According to Cobalt, with the pending transfer of the company’s Angolan assets and its focus on reducing costs, Cobalt is in the process of restructuring its organization in order to “better align with its post-Angola business needs”.

To remind, in August 2015, Cobalt entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Sonangol for the sale of Cobalt’s 40% working interest in Angola Blocks 20 and 21 for an aggregate gross consideration of $1.75 billion.

Cobalt received the initial payment of $250 million in 2015 and expects to close the transaction upon receipt of applicable Angola government approvals, the company said on Monday.

In light of the sale transaction and consistent with Sonangol’s desires, Cobalt said it has initiated activities to cease its Angola operations by late summer. In this regard, Cobalt has informed most of its vendors, contractors, and employees of its plans for cessation of operations over the next few months, the company stated.

In addition, as agreed with and advised by Sonangol, Cobalt said it has ended all contract discussions with potential contractors in connection with the Cameia development project.

Cobalt also said it would drill the remaining two exploration commitment wells on Block 20 and then intends to release the Petroserv Catarina drilling rig upon its contract expiry in May 2016.

Cobalt on Monday posted a net loss of $486.9 million for the 4Q 2015, compared to a loss of $216.6 million in the corresponding quarter in 2014.

The company further added it expects its capital expenditures to be approximately $450 to $500 million in 2016, which excludes general and administrative expenses, interest expense and costs attributable to discontinued operations.

Capital expenditures are primarily attributable to operated activities related to the Rowan Reliance drillship and non-operated activities at Shenandoah, Anchor and Heidelberg.

Work continues on the Kaombo oil development offshore Angola. Under a subcontract let by Technip SA to Fugro NV, the Dutch engineering firm will provide offshore deepwater survey and positioning services to a total of seven installation vessels and construction support vessels.

Kaombo, operated by Total E&P Angola, lies on Block 32 in 1,400-2,000 m of water about 260 km offshore Luanda (OGJ Online, Apr. 16, 2014). It includes six fields that will be tied back to two converted floating production, storage, and offloading vessels.

The contract starts in this year’s second half and is slated to continue until early 2018.