17th Oct 2006 10:06
Total S.A.17 October 2006 Confirmation of the Potential of a Fourth Production Zone With the Orquidea-2 Discovery in Angola's Offshore Block 17 Paris, October 17,2006 - Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sanangol)and Total E&P Angola, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Total, announce that theOrquidea-2 appraisal well has confirmed and expanded the potential of theOrquidea discovery in Block 17 offshore Angola. Located approximately 2 Kilometres from the Orquidea-1 discovery well anddrilled in a water depth of 1,165 metres, Orquidea-2 identified and confirmedthe Miocene objectives encountered by Orquidea-1 and also identified deeperOligocene reservoir levels. The Oligocene and Miocene objectives are both oil-bearing. The Orquidea structure is located near the Lirio, Cravo and Violeta finds. Thisdual drilling success confirms the potential for development of a fourthproduction zone in Block 17, for which preliminary design is underway. Theproduction zone is located in the northwestern area of Block 17 and willcomplete the Girassol and Dalia zones, to be followed soon by the Pazflorproduction zone, Sonangol is the Block 17 concessionaire. Total E&P Angola, operator, has a 40%interest in Block 17, alongside partners Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17)Limited (20%), BP Exploration (Angola) Ltd. (16.67%), Statoil Angola Block 17 AS(13,33%) and Norsk Hydro Dezassete a.s. (10%). Block 17: Deep-offshore Block 17 is Total's principal producing asset in Angola. It iscomposed of three major production zones: Girassol, which is in production,Dalia, which is under development with production scheduled to begin end 2006,and Pazflor, where development studies are underway. The possibility of a fourthmajor production zone, based on Cravo, Lirio, Violeta and Orquidea discoveries,is currently being studied. On the Girassol structure, production from the Girassol field and the Jasmimfield, a satellite to Girassol that came on stream in November 2003, averagednearly 250,000 barrels per day of oil over 2005. The Rosa field, developed as a15 kilometre tie back to the Girassol FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage andOffloading) facility, was approved in July 2004 and is scheduled to come onstream in the first half of 2007. It is expected to maintain the production ofthe FPSO at its plateau of 250,000 barrels per day over a number of years. Total is one of the world's major oil and gas groups, with activities in morethan 130 countries. Its 95,000 employees put their expertise to work in everypart of the industry - exploration and production of oil and natural gas,refining and marketing, gas trading and electricity, Total is working to keepthe world supplied with energy, both today and tomorrow. The Group is also afirst rank player in chemicals. www.total.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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