Construction has started in China on the floating production, storage and offloading topside destined for the Greater PAJ project, an ultra deepwater development offshore Angola operated by Azule Energy, the joint venture between Italy's Eni and the UK's BP. The first steel cutting ceremony for the topside process modules was held at the Haiyang CIMC Raffles yard, marking the start of the fabrication phase and coming just one month after the partners took a final investment decision on the project.
Greater PAJ is described as Angola's first integrated cross block development, bringing together five offshore fields across two blocks. The scheme covers Palas, Astraea and Juno in Block 31, along with Urano and Dione in Block 31/21. First oil is targeted for the first half of 2029, less than three years from the sanctioning decision.
The project sits roughly 200 kilometers offshore Angola in water depths ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 meters. The concept ties 17 wells back to a new FPSO with a nameplate capacity of 95,000 barrels of oil per day and a gas export capacity of 70 million standard cubic feet per day. The associated gas will be piped to the Angola LNG plant through a new export line connected to the existing Block 31 gas network.
The award has drawn in a roster of major service contractors. Saipem secured a contract worth about 1 billion dollars covering engineering, fabrication and installation of roughly 180 kilometers of rigid pipelines and subsea facilities, plus 38 kilometers of flexible flowlines and jumpers and 54 kilometers of umbilicals. TechnipFMC won work to design and manufacture flexible flowlines and risers, Baker Hughes will deliver subsea production systems, and Vallourec will supply more than 26,000 tons of seamless line pipe.
The sanctioning of Greater PAJ underscores the continued push by Eni and BP to extract more value from Angola's deepwater acreage at a time when many majors are weighing capital between shale, LNG and offshore basins. Delivering a project of this scale on a sub three year timeline would reinforce Angola's standing as a reliable deepwater producer and keep a steady stream of subsea and vessel work flowing to the region's supply chain.