Total (operator, 53.5%) has received the green light by the Congolese authorities to begin developing the Moho-Bilondo project, located around 80 kilometers offshore in water depths ranging from 600 to 900 meters.

Phase 1 of the Moho-Bilondo development comprises 12 subsea wells-seven producers and five water injectors-tied into a Floating Production Unit (FPU) housing the processing facilities. Expected to peak at 90,000 b/d, production will be exported to the Djéno terminal, which already handles nearly all of the country’s crude oil output.14 The development is scheduled to come on stream in 2008.

Total E&P Congo’s (53.5%) partners in the Moho-Bilondo permit are Chevron Congo Overseas Ltd. (31.5%) and the Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (15%). The percentages indicated take into account the recent acquisition by Total E&P Congo of a 2.5% interest in the Haute-Mer permit that had been previously held by Energy Africa (subsidiary of Tullow Oil).

Total is the country’s biggest foreign investor and leading oil producer, operating around 57% of output.

In 2004, Total produced 813,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Africa, its primary hydrocarbon production. The Congo accounted for 91,000 barrels.