The Agbami Project: A World Class Deepwater Development
Authors: Hollister H. D. , Spokes J.J. 
Published: October 2008

With up to several billion barrels of oil in place, the Agbami project represents a true world-class development. Multiple stacked pay zones, 4,800 ft of water depth, and adherence to the no-flare environmental policy were some of the hurdles that required the best of deepwater experience and state-ofthe- art technology. To overcome hurdles in the development plan such as the selection of pressure maintenance scheme, facility capacities, and gas disposition, a rigorous technical team effort and a well informed decision board was required.

Thorough descriptions of the field logistics, acquired data, and technology gaps posed some of the challenges presented by the Agbami project. Necessary decisions were made to staff the technical team correctly and to lay out the road map that led to an optimized development plan.

This paper provides an asset overview of the Agbami field development project, with a focus on the following topics:The Agbami development and the available dataThe selected pressure maintenance schemeThe facility conceptThe project stakeholdersThe technical team with diverse experiences, disciplines, and backgroundsThe formal phased decision-making process

Introduction

This paper will provide an overview of the Agbami project with a focus on the preparation of the field development plan. Agbami project stakeholders are aligned on all technical aspects of the field development plan and the project is rapidly proceeding toward sanction and awarding of major contracts. Key success factors to date have been:World class asset with critical mass for stand alone developmentImplementation of a formal phased decision making processA diverse work team with significant deepwater experience from the North Sea, Campos Basin, Gulf of Mexico, and the Nigerian Shelf that was co-located for technical workExtensive use of peer assists and peer reviewsApplication of state-of-the-art technology including experimental design (ED)1–4

World Class Asset.

The Agbami structure is a northwest/ southeast trending four way closure anticline and is located on the Niger Delta front approximately 65 miles offshore Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea (see map in Fig. 1). The structure spans an area of 45,000 acres at spill point and is located in 4,800 ft of water. The Agbami No. 1 discovery well drilled in late 1998. The appraisal program was completed in 2001 and included five wells and one sidetrack drilled on the structure with each encountering oil pay. These five wells and one sidetrack penetrated an average of approximately 350 ft of oil. With up to several billion barrels of oil in place, this discovery represents a true world-class development.

Although the seismic quality is less than ideal, the data indicates that a high degree of complexity is prevalent at Agbami. The structural and stratigraphic complexity needs to be discussed briefly to set the background for the earth (geologic) modeling. A complex stratigraphic architecture has been detected from seismic, with three or more distinct pressure isolated reservoirs (see Fig. 2) confirmed by modular dynamic test data (MDT). The reservoir model captured three of these as the 14 million year (MY), 16MY, and 17MY reservoirs.