Azule Energy, the 50:50 joint venture set up by BP and Eni in August 2022 to combine their Angolan businesses, has signed an Agreement for Preliminary Activities worth US$218m with the Malaysian floater operator Yinson Production, under the terms of which Yinson will provide, operate and maintain a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Agogo Integrated West Hub development offshore Angola. The FPSO will be located in the West Hub part of Block 15/06 in Angola until 31 December 2022, with an option to extend the lease until 30 June 2023. The lease and operate contract, which might have a 10-year term, should be executed by the end of 2024, pending a final investment decision (FID) on the project.
Eni made a significant discovery in the first appraisal well of the Agogo discovery in Block 15/06 in July 2019. The well results confirmed the extension of the Agogo reservoir to the north of the discovery well. The Agogo field would hold 650 mbl of oil in place and production started in January 2020, thanks to a subsea tie back to the N’Goma FPSO.
Azule Energy holds 2 Gboe of net resources, including stakes in 16 licences (of which 6 are exploration blocks) and a participation in Angola LNG JV. Azule Energy is expected to increase its output to 250 kboe/d over the next 5 years, thanks to a pipeline of new projects that are scheduled to come on stream over the next few years, comprising the Agogo Full Field and PAJ oil projects in Blocks 15/06 and 31 respectively, and the New Gas Consortium (NGC), the first non-associated gas project in Angola. The new company also holds exploration acreage in excess of 30,000 km2.