The Woodlands, Texas – East Africa is ready for a transformation, and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s natural gas discoveries will hasten that transformation.
Cory Weinbel, Anadarko’s project manager for Mozambique, told the 2013 Deep Offshore Technology Conference & Exhibition delegates that the country has seen an 8% growth in its economy over the last few years and that development of offshore natural gas reserves to feed an LNG facility onshore would add to that success.
He talked in some detail specifically about the Prosperidade field, one of a group of three fields in the Rovuma basin Offshore Area 1, about 50 km (≈30 mi) offshore in 1,500 m (4,920 ft) water depth.
“The initial plans call for a subsea gas gathering installation feeding a 22-in. diameter pipeline to the beach,” Weinbel said. “Onshore Phase 1 plans for four LNG trains producing about 5 MMtpa each from wells that are producing 150-200 MMcf/d each.”
Anadarko estimates the recoverable natural gas in the area at up to 65 tcf which would support the LNG facility plans.
“There are some challenges,” added Weinbel. “There are subsea canyons with talus slopes and big boulders that the pipeline to shore has to cross, and there is a broad section of shallow water leading to the beach with coral and sea grass to protect.”
Plans call for bidding the installation work in 1Q 2014. Work by separate contractors on three different front-end engineering and design approaches is about 95% complete. And, he said, the final investment decision could come at that time as well. On this schedule the first sustained LNG flow would be in 2018.
