Total and Chevron have given the go-ahead to what is being called the biggest offshore development ever in the Republic of Congo.

This $10bn deepwater project, in waters ranging from 450m to 1,200m, combines the further development of the Moho-Bilondo field with the development of Moho Nord which itself is a two-part project.

All told, this will involve 28 subsea wells, 17 dry tree wells, a new fpu and a tlp. When fully developed, peak production should reach 140,000b/d.

Moho-Bilondo phase 1bis will encompass 11 subsea wells tied back to the existing fpu. This unit will undergo a debottlenecking exercise plus the addition of a new separator to handle heavier fluids to increase its handling capacity by 40,000b/d.

Moho Nord, like Total’s Pazflor development in Angola, takes in two reservoirs with two different fluids. There will be 17 subsea linked to a new fpu which can process 100,00b/d plus 17 dry tree wells drilled from the tlp.

Aker Solutions delivers the subsea hardware here offering its new vertical tree technology, presumably for the first time. According to Total, these trees offer the ability to provide bottomhole gas lift injection combined with a gas lift choke on the tree itself. This is the first time that Total has combined these two technologies on subsea wells.

AkerSol’s $850mn order includes 28 trees, seven manifolds, subsea controls and two workover systems, developed under its Tulip technology programme for Total.

Hyundai of South Korea will fabricate both the new floater and the tlp for $2bn. The 14,600t tlp has been priced at $1.3bn and the 62,000t fpu, 250m by 44m, at $700mn.

The oil is due to be exported through a new 80km pipeline to a terminal at Djeno, while gas will flow to the existing N'Kossa platform.

These pipeline will be installed by Technip under its SURF contract. Its total scope includes 230km of rigid pipe plus 23km of flexi-pipe, 50km of umbilicals and 50 subsea structures amongst which is a multiphase pumping station associated with the Miocene wells to the new fpu.

The s-lay/heavylift unit G1200 and Deepsea Pioneer will be deployed for the project.

It also supplies the flexibles out of Flexi- France’s plant in Le Trait and the umbilicals from its Duco subsidiary in the UK.