ExxonMobil's CLOV Projects Begins per Schedule, Shares Rise - Analyst Blog

Oil giant, ExxonMobil Corporation's XOM share price rose nearly 1% on the company's announcement that its CLOV project in Angola has commenced operations on time and is projected to achieve daily production capacity of 160,000 barrels in the coming months.

CLOV represents the fourth major development hub in Block 17, which is operated by Total SA TOT. Girassol, Dalia and Pazflor are the first three developments in the block. An ExxonMobil affiliate has a 20% working interest in CLOV. The project will produce oil from the four fields of Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea and Violeta that lie in water depths of 3,600 feet to 4,593 feet.

Located 87 miles offshore Luanda, CLOV is one of the most prolific fields in Block 17. It comprises 34 wells and 8 manifolds linked by 112 miles of subsea pipelines to a floating production storage and offloading vessel as well as a crude oil offloading terminal.

The vessel, with a length of 1,000 feet and width of 197 feet, has a storage capacity of about 1.8 million barrels of oil. Natural gas yield from CLOV will be transferred to an Angolan liquefied natural gas plant in Soyo through a subsea pipeline. Two types of oil are produced at CLOV – from the Miocene and Oligocene geological horizons.

Miocene oil considered to be more viscous than Oligocene oil. The former involves a subsea multiphase pump system for shipping to improve co-mingled fluid and increase oil recovery.

To be complete, the project required over 10 million hours of labor by a local workforce to complete fabrication and assembly of the storage and offloading vessel in Angola. The construction and setting up of the water treatment module, which is a vital part of the vessel, was carried out in Angola. This was the first time the country witnessed such an execution.

Sonangol is the concessionaire for Block 17. Other partners in the block include Total, Statoil ASA STO and BP plc BP, holding 40%, 23.33% and 16.67% stake, respectively.

Currently, ExxonMobil carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).