In the extreme north of Angola, where the Congo River opens onto the Atlantic Ocean, there is a small town called Soyo. The Portuguese caravels had arrived here at the end of the 400th century, had chosen it as their outpost and had baptized it Sonho – dream, in Italian. And flying over the coast between Luanda and Soyo one really has the impression of dreaming: endless beaches of white sand and dense green forest, exactly the same landscape that the navigator Diogo Cão saw in 1482.
Today Soyo is a town in full growth: off its coast, huge oil discoveries ensure it the important role of logistic support for Angolan and international operators. 60 km from here, in the open sea and in deep water, in block 15/06, Eni discovered 450 million barrels of oil. A relinquishment that others had explored without success and that Eni was able to transform into an exploration success, brought into production in just 3 years: “A world record in terms of times, speed and performance”, explains the CEO of Eni, Claudio Descalzi. “It is the first embodiment of a completely new model that has led us to be the first in exploration and now also in development. We have carried out a very aggressive exploration which in parallel we have supported the development and the start of the design. While we were finding oil we were already starting development, while we were doing exploration we were already putting the fields into production, and while the fields were starting production we continued to do near field exploration for future developments. Thus we have reduced time and idle capital, and thus we have anticipated both the start-up and the cash flow.”
Block 15/06 includes several fields: those of the West Hub entered production in 2014 with FPSO N'Goma. Production of the East Hub began in February 2017, with the arrival from Singapore of the FPSO Olombendo: the ship that produces, treats, stores and distributes oil and is also a record holder, in terms of size, capacity, complexity and speed of construction. "The design of the Olombendo required 16 months of work, more than a million hours of engineering", says Luca Faccenda, FPSO Work Package Manager of Eni Angola, who has been with the group for 10 years. "Over 500 engineers were involved in the various packages, i.e. on the various components of the ship, and at peak times in the yard there were even 4000 people at work".
The peculiarity of this FPSO is an imposing turret - the cantilever turret - integrated in the bow of the ship, which allows the FPSO to rotate on itself, adapting the position of the ship to the sea currents, without however moving the chains that anchor the ship or the risers hoses through which oil and gas pass. “This is the largest, tallest and heaviest external turret ever made”, explains Luca Faccenda again. “It is 65 meters high, weighs 5000 tons. It is among the most important systems because the production fluids arrive here and are transferred from the subsea system to the surface treatment systems, but it is also the most stressed part on a structural level because it absorbs and transmits the loads to the chains and to the ground".
The turret it is one of the elements of greatest engineering complexity and it was also one of the points where procedures and the human factor, calculation and teamwork were most effectively integrated into Eni's way of working. Luca recounts: “at a certain point I feared that we would not be able to respect the timetable. We were faced with a very difficult choice regarding awarding the turret contract due to the complexity of the project. The main contractor was working well on the rest of the vessel but had no specific experience designing turrets of that size. We could have looked for another contractor but this would have impacted the timing of the project. In the end, with the support of the top management, we decided to go ahead with the main contractor, supporting him closely, and it went very well: precisely because it was the first time they had built a turret of such complexity and size, they dedicated even more attention to the project. We trusted, we paid attention, and the results paid off”.
Trust, support, teamwork, responsibility are recurring words when trying to understand how Eni achieves its records. “The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team” is the motto of Valentin Talamba, Quality Assurance and Quality Control Manager of West Hub and East Hub, for 22 years in Eni. Because behind a block made up of several fields, operated with two different FPSOs and which will produce up to 150 barrels a day, there is the technical expertise, the ability to analyze data, the ability to plan, execute, operate, check. And then there are the people, there's the motivation, the leadership. “A company is not made up of its technical means, those are bought and sold. A company is made up of its people”, explains Valentin. “People make the difference. What's holding people back? Fear. What motivates people? Satisfaction, and involved leadership. How do you create a team? Listening. Trying to understand and advise. On this project I saw a teamwork capacity at levels I hadn't seen yet, both among colleagues, with partners and with suppliers. We worked as one team, with one goal: to exceed expectations. Of the leaders, but also ours ".
The CEO confirms this interpretation: "In Angola we have a group of very motivated young technicians, and very happy with what they are doing, because they feel they are the first" observes Descalzi. “We are the first in Angola in exploration and development, we have only had very great successes. Furthermore, the Olombendo is exceptional from a technological point of view”. Here as everywhere, Eni works to ensure zero flaring, zero discharge and zero oil spills. "The Olombendo is designed to last, designed for the future", concludes Descalzi, "and will allow Angola to have a productive growth that will make an exceptional contribution to the development of the country".
Jenifer Nzoanene, Junior Process Engineer, with Eni for 3 years, worked on the process of separation and treatment of the crude that takes place on board the Olombendo: in fact, the ship is equipped to re-inject the water and associated gas into the reservoir. “In this way we combine efficiency and respect for the environment,” he explains to guests visiting the FPSO. He is young, brilliant, enthusiastic and has an unshakable motivation: “I could go to work abroad. It's a temptation. But I want to do my part, make my contribution to the growth of my country. I was able to study abroad and what I learned is a plus. Now I want to be part of the change in Angola”.
The article is taken from Eniday.
