Block 17 / Total

Over the course of the last 7 years, Angola has emerged as the largest oil producer in Africa, overtaking Nigeria in 2008. An OPEC member since 2007, it has the biggest cumulative investment plans in this organisation. More than USD 35 billion has been committed by energy companies for investments in the expansion of the energy infrastructure in Angola. The French supermajor TOTAL S.A. is the leading international energy company in Africa and one of the major oil producers in Angola. TOTAL‘s principal production asset in this country is a deep offshore field called Block 17, where TOTAL has a joint venture with the Angolan national oil and gas company SONANGOL.

Associated gas from this and other oil fields off the coast of Angola will be transported via a system of offshore pipelines to a new gas liquefaction plant near Soyo.

The new LNG plant will commence production in 2012 with a capacity of 5.2 million tonnes of LNG production per year, with the main export markets being the USA and Europe. The gas from this field used to be flared; however, environmental concerns and high gas prices have changed the economics of this type of production. The valorisation of this commodity is now a viable business model.

EUROPIPE has been awarded the order by TOTAL for the delivery of pipes for a pipeline starting from Block 17. This pipeline will be part of a network supplying gas to the new Angola LNG plant. EUROPIPE has supplied nearly 20,000 tonnes of pipe with an OD of 24" (610 mm) and a wall thickness of 1.17" (29.7 mm). For a large-diameter pipe this is a relatively small OD. Combined with the thickness of the pipe wall this constituted a challenge in manufacturing, as the degree of steel deformation was extremely high. In addition, the very sour characteristic (PH 3) of the medium transported required X65 high-purity steel to fulfil the very demanding requirements concerning corrosion resistance.

Combined, these very high technical specifications were successfully met, which can be attributed to the close collaboration of the steel and plate mills and the EUROPIPE manufacturing units. The pipes were manufactured on the 18 m line in the EUROPIPE Mülheim mill in March / April 2008, with the inside and protective outside coatings for the pipes provided by MÜLHEIM PIPECOATINGS.