Crude production has started at the Clov 2 project in block 17 offshore Angola, the second new deepwater development to come on stream in the west African country in the space of a week.
Clov 2 comprises seven wells and is expected to plateau at 40,000 b/d. It will be instrumental in mitigating "the decline of Angola's oil production and work to increase it in the near future", said Para Belarmino Chitangueleca, executive administrator at Angola's oil and gas regulator ANPG.
Production from the Clov hub started in 2014 and currently averages around 85,000 b/d of medium sweet crude from four fields — Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea and Violeta. It is unclear whether the addition of Clov 2's 40,000 b/d will change the grade's quality.
Block 17 is also home of the Dalia, Girassol and Pazflor developments. TotalEnergies operates the block with a 38pc stake. The other partners are Norway's Equinor with 22.16pc, ExxonMobil with 19pc, BP with 15.84pc and Angola's state-owned Sonangol with 5pc.
Only last week, BP started production from the Platina oil field in neighbouring block 18.
