Construction has officially commenced on the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel topside destined for the Greater PAJ development offshore Angola, with the first steel cutting ceremony taking place at the Haiyang CIMC Raffles yard in China.

The milestone arrives just one month after the project reached its final investment decision, signaling an aggressive push toward a first oil target in the first half of 2029.

Angola's First Integrated Cross-Block Development

The Greater PAJ project is being developed by Azule Energy, a joint venture between Italy's Eni and the United Kingdom's BP. The development is described as Angola's first integrated cross-block development, bringing together five offshore fields spanning two blocks. Those fields are Palas, Astraea and Juno, located in Block 31, and Urano and Dione, situated in Block 31/21.

The project lies approximately 200 kilometers offshore Angola in water depths ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 meters, placing it firmly in ultra-deepwater territory.

The development concept encompasses 17 wells connected to a new FPSO vessel with a nameplate capacity of 95,000 barrels of oil per day.

The FPSO will also carry a gas export capacity of 70 million standard cubic feet per day, with that gas to be delivered to the Angola LNG plant via a new gas export line tied into the existing Block 31 gas export network.

Steel Cutting Marks the Start of Topside Fabrication

The first steel cutting ceremony for the Greater PAJ FPSO topside process modules was held at Haiyang CIMC Raffles' Haiyang yard in China and brought together representatives from both Azule Energy and CIMC Raffles.

The ceremony formally marks the beginning of the topside construction phase for what will become a central piece of infrastructure in Angola's deepwater production landscape.

Azule Energy described the event as celebrating the beginning of a new chapter in the delivery of a world-class floating production facility. In its own statement, the company said the milestone reflects the commitment that Azule Energy, its partners and CIMC Raffles share in delivering the project on schedule to the nation of Angola.

The speed at which construction has begun following the final investment decision underscores the urgency attached to the project timeline. With first oil targeted for the first half of 2029, the project team has less than three years to bring the development into production.

A Billion-Dollar Contract for Saipem

The scale of the Greater PAJ project is reflected in the size and scope of the contracts already awarded to the supply chain.

Saipem secured a contract valued at approximately one billion dollars covering the engineering, fabrication, transportation and installation of around 180 kilometers of rigid pipelines and subsea facilities.

The Italian contractor's scope also includes the transportation and installation of 38 kilometers of flexible flowlines and jumpers, as well as 54 kilometers of umbilicals.

That contract represents one of the more significant individual awards connected to the development, but it sits alongside a growing roster of major industry names that have been engaged to deliver specialized equipment and services for the project.

TechnipFMC, Baker Hughes and Vallourec Round Out the Supply Chain

TechnipFMC has been contracted to design and manufacture flexible flowlines and risers that will connect the development's wells, which sit in water depths approaching 2,000 meters, to the new floating production unit.

The work calls for equipment capable of withstanding the considerable pressures associated with operations at those depths. Baker Hughes has been brought in to deliver subsea production systems for the development.

The company's involvement adds another major oilfield services name to the project's contractor list, which has been assembled in the period following the final investment decision.

French tubular products manufacturer Vallourec will supply more than 26,000 tons of seamless carbon steel line pipes for the project. The volume of pipe involved reflects both the geographic scope of the subsea infrastructure and the demands placed on materials operating in ultra-deepwater conditions over the development's production life.

Project Context and Azule Energy's Role

Azule Energy serves as the operator and developer of the Greater PAJ project, operating as a standalone joint venture formed between Eni and BP.

The company's involvement in Angola spans a number of offshore blocks, and the Greater PAJ development represents one of its most significant active undertakings in the country.

The designation of Greater PAJ as Angola's first integrated cross-block development reflects both the technical complexity involved in coordinating production across multiple fields and multiple blocks simultaneously, and the regulatory and commercial framework required to make such an arrangement viable.

The five fields being brought together under a single development concept would otherwise have required separate production infrastructure, making integration a meaningful efficiency step for both the operator and the host nation.

The Haiyang CIMC Raffles yard in China, where topside construction has now begun, is the same facility where the process modules for the FPSO are being fabricated. With the steel cutting ceremony now complete and construction underway, the project enters what will be a critical multi-year fabrication and installation phase before the vessel can be deployed to its location offshore Angola.