Amoca

Location and Overview

The Amoca oil field is part of the Area 1 development project, located in the Bay of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico, approximately 30 kilometers offshore from the Dos Bocas port in southeast Mexico. It is situated about 200 kilometers west of Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico, at a water depth of around 32 meters.

Ownership and Operation

The Amoca oil field is jointly developed by Eni Mexico (Eni), which holds a 65% participating interest, and Qatar Petroleum, which holds a 35% interest. Eni Mexico is the operator of the project. Eni initially acquired a 100% participating interest in Area 1 in a competitive bid round in September 2015 and later sold a 35% stake to Qatar Petroleum in December 2018.

Development Details

Wellhead Platform

The Amoca field will feature an unmanned wellhead platform 1 (WHP1), which is being constructed by McDermott International. The platform includes eight producer wells and four water injection wells. The four-deck topsides of the platform weigh approximately 2,924 tons, and the four-legged jacket and piles weigh about 1,785 tons. The platform is installed at a water depth of 93 feet (28 meters) in Contract Block 1.

FPSO

The oil and gas output from the Amoca field will be processed by a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Initially, it was planned to use the FPSO converted from the tanker Felicity Modec, but more recent updates indicate that the Miamte MV34 FPSO is being used for full field production. The Miamte MV34 FPSO has a processing capacity of 90,000 barrels of crude oil per day, 75 million cubic feet of gas per day, and 120,000 barrels of water injection per day. It also has a crude oil storage capacity of 900,000 barrels. The FPSO is moored with a state-of-the-art disconnectable tower yoke mooring system (DTYMS).

Exploration and Appraisal

The presence of high-quality light oil in the Amoca field was confirmed through appraisal wells Amoca-2 and Amoca-3, drilled in March and July 2017, respectively. These wells intercepted significant oil pay in reservoir sandstones of the Pliocene era. Additional appraisal wells, Mizton-2 and Tecoalli-2, further estimated the total hydrocarbons in Area 1 to be approximately 2.1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Production

Early production from the Mizton field, part of the Area 1 project, began in June 2019 with an initial production capacity of 15,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). Full field development, including the Amoca, Mizton, and Tecoalli fields, is expected to be completed by 2024, with a projected production capacity of approximately 90,000 bopd.

Contractors Involved

• McDermott International: Awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the WHP1 in April 2019. McDermott will perform the engineering work from its center in Mexico City and fabrication from its yard in Altamira, Mexico.
• Modec: Contracted to supply, charter, and operate the FPSO. Modec's subsidiary, Sofec, designed and supplied the mooring system for the FPSO.
• Sapura Energy: Supplied the pipelay vessel Sapura Kencana 3500, which performed cable-laying, installation, and lifting operations.
• COSCO Shipyard: Subcontracted by Modec for the modification of the tanker into an FPSO.

Infrastructure and Facilities

• Wellhead Platforms: In addition to the WHP1 on the Amoca field, two other wellhead platforms are in operation on the Mizton field, and another platform on the Amoca field and a monopod on the Tecoalli field are under development.
• FPSO Miamte MV34: Arrived in Mexico in January 2022 and started hydrocarbon production from the Mizton field in February 2022. The FPSO is capable of processing and storing crude oil, gas, and water injection as mentioned earlier.

Regulatory Approvals

The Area 1 development plan was approved by Mexico’s National Hydrocarbon Commission (Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos) in August 2018. However, in December 2021, the CNH rejected an updated work program submitted by Eni, citing concerns that it would result in less hydrocarbon production.

Environmental and Technical Considerations

The project involves advanced engineering and technological solutions, including a state-of-the-art modular tensioning system and a disconnectable tower yoke mooring system for the FPSO. The operations are designed to ensure high levels of safety, quality, and cost-efficiency.