Cuica

Cuica Oil Field Profile

Location and Geology

• The Cuica oil field is located in the eastern part of Block 15/06, offshore Angola, approximately 350 kilometers northwest of Luanda.
• The field is situated in a water depth of 500 meters.

Discovery and Reservoir Details

• The Cuica field was discovered in March 2021 through the drilling of the Cuica-1 new field wildcat (NFW) well within the Cabaça Development Area.
• The Cuica-1 discovery well encountered an 80-meter light oil column in sandstones of the Miocene age and was drilled to a total vertical depth of 4,100 meters.

Production and Development

• Production at the Cuica field commenced in July 2021, just over four months after the discovery, marking a rapid transition from exploration to production.
• The initial development includes an oil production well and a water injection well, which are tied back subsea to the existing Cabaça North subsea production system and connected to the Armada Olombendo Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.

Infrastructure and FPSO Details

• The Armada Olombendo FPSO, which is approximately 3 kilometers away from the Cuica field, serves as the production hub. It has a crude oil production capacity of 80,000 barrels per day (bpd), a gas compression capacity of 3.4 million cubic meters per day, and a water injection capacity of 120,000 bpd. The FPSO also has an oil storage capacity of 1.7 million barrels.
• The FPSO is chartered to Eni Angola by Malaysia’s Bumi Armada and has been operating in the block since February 2017.

Partners and Ownership

• Eni Angola is the operator of the field, holding a 36.84% interest in Block 15/06.
• Other partners include Sonangol Pesquisa & Produção (P&P) with a 36.84% interest, and SSI Fifteen, a subsidiary of Sonangol Sinopec International (SSI), with a 26.32% interest.

Production Capacity and Reserves

• The Cuica field is estimated to contain between 200 and 250 million barrels of light oil with an API gravity of 38°.
• The initial production rate from the Cuica field is approximately 10,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Operational Strategy

• The development of the Cuica field is part of Eni’s Infrastructure Led Exploration (ILX) strategy, which focuses on exploring areas close to existing infrastructure to fast-track production with minimal investment.
• This approach allows for the integration and overlapping of exploration and development phases, enabling quick market entry and efficient use of existing facilities.

Environmental and Regulatory Compliance

• Eni adheres to a Zero Discharge Policy for the management of production water and drilling residue, utilizing the best available technology to minimize discharge and emissions.

Broader Context within Block 15/06

• Block 15/06 includes several production hubs, including the West Hub and the East Hub, with the Armada Olombendo FPSO serving the East Hub fields. Other fields tied back to the Olombendo FPSO include Cabaça, Cabaça South East, and UM8, with plans to receive production from the Cabaça North field as well.