Introduction
Kingfisher is a USD $1.5 billion upstream project set to produce 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day at peak. The Kingfisher Project Development Area (KPDA) spans over 344km2 on the shores of Lake Albert in Buhuka and Kikuube districts in Western Uganda. The project is owned by TotalEnergies, CNOOC and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC).
The operator, CNOOC, says it is committed to commissioning the project by early 2025. The project is expected to produce a total of 189.43 million barrels of oil throughout its 25-year life span. In this article, we bring you up to speed with the main aspects of the Kingfisher project.
Oil Wells and Well Pads
China Oilfield Service Limited (COSL) has been contracted to drill a total of 31 wells, 20 of which are production wells and the remaining 11 water injection wells on 4 well pads. On the 26th September 2022, the first shipments of the drilling rig, dubbed LR8001 together with the Drillog and Welleader system started arriving in Kikuube District from Yantai Port in China and were received by Chinese Ambassador Zhang Lizhong. These are key to get the oil flowing out of the ground as Uganda matches towards First Oil.
The injector wells will be used to input produced water into the oil wells reservoir both for safe disposal but also to pressurise the crude oil to flow to the surface. The produced water will also provide the right temperature to the crude in the reservoir to so it can flow up to the surface of the wells.
Excel Construction Ltd, a Ugandan local company has been contracted to upgrade three of the existing well pads (1,2 and 3) which had been constructed during the exploration phase. A fourth new well pad will be constructed to replace the one previously constructed on a geologically unstable site which got flooded in 2021.
Uganda’s crude oil is waxy and viscous thus solid at room temperature. It requires heating to flow. CenerTech Ltd has been contracted to provide a Heat Tracing System (HTS) for 19 kms of inflow lines to ensure fluid flow integrity.
The CPF
A consortium of China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC) and China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Company (CPECC) have been contracted to design and construct the CPF and the infield flow lines network. The CPF will be located in Buhuka Parish, Kyangwali sub county Hoima district. Figure 2 shows a summarised Process Flow Diagram (PFD) for the Kingfisher Project. The wells inflow network will connect the oil fields to the Central Processing Facility (CPF).
The well fluids will be a mixture of oil, associated gas and produced water which will go through a three-phase separation process. The crude oil that meets the export specifications will be stored in the on-spec storage tanks from which it will be pumped through the 50km Kingfisher feederliner to the export hub in the Kabaale Industrial Park. Some of the gas will be used to power the gas turbine for onsite power generation. The rest of the gas will be compressed to produce LPG for sale. The produced water will be treated to meet sub surface injection requirements before it is mixed with abstracted water and pumped back to the kingfisher oil fields through the injector wells.
Kingfisher Feederline
Daqing Oilfield Construction Group Co Ltd has been contracted to design and construct the Kingfisher feeder-line. It will be a 46.5km long, 12-inch diameter insulated pipeline which will transport the crude oil from Kingfisher CPF storage tanks to the export hub in Kabaale industrial Park. Figure 3 below shows the proposed route of this feeder line. This pipeline will be buried 1.5m -2 m underground and will be equipped with a Heat Tracing System (HTS) to ensure continued flow of the crude oil. After construction, there will be no restriction of movement for both animals and humans in the 30 m right of way of the pipeline. Fibre optic cable will be laid along the pipeline to support a 24/7 monitoring system for leakage detection.
References
CNOOC Ug. (2018). Kingfisher Oil Development Non-Technical Summary. Kampala: CNOOC Ug.
CNOOC Ug. (2018). Kingfisher Oil Development Main Report. Kampala: CNOOC Ug.
Petroleum Authority of Uganda. (2022, 10 26). The Kingfisher Development Project. Retrieved from pau.go.ug: https://www.pau.go.ug/the-kingfisher-development-project/
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