en.Wedoany.com Reported - French pipe manufacturer Vallourec has been awarded a contract by Azule Energy for the Greater PAJ offshore development project in Angola, supplying over 26,000 tons of seamless carbon steel line pipe.
The line pipe covered by this contract is equivalent to approximately 210 kilometers of pipeline, including advanced solutions with heavy insulation coatings. Deliveries related to the order are scheduled to begin in July 2027 and continue through December 2027.
Vallourec will provide line pipe solutions for production, service, water injection, and gas export pipelines, supporting the critical infrastructure required for hydrocarbon production and transportation under ultra-deepwater conditions. The project will feature one of the thickest insulation systems ever used in the subsea industry, with a glass-reinforced polypropylene insulation coating thickness of 120 millimeters.
The project supported by this contract is one of the largest and most technically demanding deepwater projects currently offshore Angola. Located approximately 200 kilometers off the coast of Angola, with water depths ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 meters, the Greater PAJ project has a total investment of $5.1 billion and covers the development of five offshore fields—Palas, Astraea, Juno, Dione, and Urano. First oil from the project is expected in the first half of 2029, less than three years from now.
Eni and BP announced the final investment decision for the project last week through their joint venture Azule Energy. Sonangol E&P and Equinor are also partners in the project. Azule has awarded multiple contracts for the Greater PAJ development, with Saipem winning a $1 billion transport and installation services contract with a duration of approximately 40 months, and TechnipFMC securing a contract to supply flexible flowlines and risers.
The overall development plan involves connecting 17 wells to a new floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, with a nameplate capacity of 95,000 barrels of oil per day and a gas export capacity of 70 million cubic feet per day. Natural gas will be transported via a new export pipeline connected to the existing Block 31 gas export network to the Angola LNG (ALNG) plant. The construction contract for the FPSO has been awarded to Chinese shipyard CIMC Raffles.
