Steel cutting has started in China on the topside process modules for the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit serving Azule Energy's Greater PAJ project offshore Angola, pushing the 95,000-bpd sanctioned development into its fabrication phase one month after final investment decision.

Haiyang CIMC Raffles hosted the first steel cutting ceremony at its Haiyang yard, marking the formal start of topside construction for the FPSO that will anchor Angola's first integrated cross-block development. Azule Energy — the 50:50 joint venture between Eni and BP — reported that the ceremony gathered company and yard representatives "to celebrate the beginning of a new chapter in the delivery of a world-class floating production facility."

"This milestone, achieved one month after Greater PAJ Project's Final Investment Decision (FID), reflects the commitment that Azule Energy, its partners and CIMC Raffles share in delivering the Project on schedule to the nation of Angola," the company said.

The development scope

Greater PAJ ties together five offshore fields across two blocks: Palas, Astraea and Juno in Block 31, and Urano and Dione in Block 31/21. The complex sits roughly 200 kilometers offshore Angola in water depths of 1,500 to 2,000 meters — firmly in ultra-deepwater territory and comparable to the depth ranges now being drilled offshore Brazil and West Africa's conjugate margin.

The sanctioned concept calls for 17 wells connected to a newbuild FPSO with nameplate capacity of 95,000 barrels of oil per day and gas export capacity of 70 million standard cubic feet per day. Gas will move to the Angola LNG (ALNG) plant through a new export line tied into the existing Block 31 gas export network — a tie-in that spares the project from building standalone monetization infrastructure and feeds the country's liquefaction complex at Soyo.

First oil is expected in less than three years, in the first half of 2029. That timeline makes Greater PAJ one of the faster-moving deepwater projects in Azule's Angolan portfolio and a test of whether the fast-track cycle times now standard in the Guyanas and Suriname can be replicated in the Lower Congo Basin.

Contractor lineup

The subcontractor stack gives an indication of project scale. Saipem secured a $1 billion contract covering engineering, fabrication, transportation and installation of approximately 180 kilometers of rigid pipelines and subsea facilities, plus transport and installation of 38 kilometers of flexible flowlines and jumpers and 54 kilometers of umbilicals.

TechnipFMC, in a separate announcement, said it won a contract to design and manufacture flexible flowlines and risers connecting wells in water depths approaching 2,000 meters to the new floating production unit.

On the hardware side, Baker Hughes will deliver the subsea production systems, and Vallourec will supply more than 26,000 tons of seamless carbon steel line pipe. That tonnage alone signals the flowline intensity of a 17-well, five-field development spread across two blocks.

What to watch

The immediate watch items are schedule adherence at Haiyang and the subsea installation campaign. Topsides fabrication milestones for FPSOs of this class typically run 24-30 months from steel cutting to sail-away, leaving little float against a first-half 2029 first-oil target. Saipem's pipelay scope in 1,500-2,000 meter water depths will likely require vessel scheduling decisions well before installation begins. Beyond Greater PAJ itself, the gas export tie-in to Angola LNG adds a second variable: throughput availability at Soyo when PAJ gas arrives. For a JV that has positioned Angola's deepwater as a core growth area, delivery here will shape the pace of any follow-on cross-block developments in the country's offshore portfolio.