Construction has started in China on the floating production, storage and offloading topside for Angola’s Greater PAJ ultra-deepwater development, being built by Azule Energy, the joint venture between Eni and BP, with first oil targeted for the first half of 2029.

Described as Angola’s first integrated cross-block development, Greater PAJ brings together five offshore fields across two blocks — Palas, Astraea and Juno in Block 31, and Urano and Dione in Block 31/21 — located roughly 200 kilometres offshore in water depths of 1,500 to 2,000 metres. The project, sanctioned one month before this steel-cutting ceremony at Haiyang CIMC Raffles’ yard, will connect 17 wells to a new FPSO with a nameplate capacity of 95,000 barrels of oil per day and gas export capacity of 70 million standard cubic feet a day, feeding Angola LNG via a new pipeline tie-in to the existing Block 31 gas network.

Saipem has secured a $1 billion contract covering roughly 180 kilometres of rigid pipelines and subsea facilities for the project, while TechnipFMC will supply flexible flowlines and risers, Baker Hughes will deliver subsea production systems, and Vallourec will supply over 26,000 tonnes of seamless carbon steel line pipe.

Source: offshore-energy.biz