Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola (Sonangol E.P.), as the concessionaire, BP Exploration Angola, as the operator, and the partners of Block 31, announced that production from the PSVM development area in Block 31, offshore Angola, has started.

Initial production comes from three production wells in Plutao field and is expected to ramp up to around 70,000 barrels of oil per day. PSVM is expected to build towards plateau rates of 150,000 barrels of oil per day over the coming year with the additional production from Saturno and Venus fields in 2013 and Marte in 2014.

Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, said: “PSVM is one of the largest subsea developments in the world and was one of BP’s key project start-ups for 2012 as we grow higher-margin production. Over the coming decade, we expect Angola, where we have extensive interests from exploration through to production, to be one of the main hubs delivering growth for BP.

Tags: BP PLC