Kaombo, Total’s largest development operated to date, came on stream on July 27. TechnipFMC & Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC), in charge of the SURF engineering, procurement, construction and installation, chose Tenaris to supply the flowlines for this ambitious project.
Total has started up production of Kaombo, the biggest offshore development in Angola. Located in Block 32, approximately 160 miles (260 km) off the coast of Luanda, its overall production is expected to reach 230,000 barrels of oil per day at peak.
Kaombo taps into oil deposits spread across six fields connected through more than 220 miles (365 km) of subsea pipelines to two FPSO vessels. Kaombo Norte was brought on stream last July 27, while Kaombo Sul is expected to start up next year.
Back in 2014, TechnipFMC & HMC consortium was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction and installation of the SURF and chose Tenaris to manufacture and deliver high-quality line pipes for flowlines and jumpers, together with coating and hot-induction bends. The total volume of the order was 15,000 tons of welded pipes and 38,000 tons of seamless pipes, out of which 30,000 tons had to be delivered double-jointed.
In order to certify the compliance of its products to this stringent project, Tenaris performed numerous qualifications including full scale tests such as reeling simulations and fatigue tests, in addition to girth welding qualifications. Tenaris excellent material properties has been demonstrated, providing products with good hardness control and low temperature toughness.
A fully integrated supply chain across Tenaris’s global manufacturing system proved key to achieving the highest quality standards under an extremely tight schedule. The project demanded precise coordination between the customer’s headquarters and Tenaris production centers in Mexico, Italy and Brazil, as well as on-site contractors. On April 2016, Tenaris delivered the last batch on schedule, marking the end of one of many phases of this milestone project in deepwater exploration.