GRUPPO ANTONINI LAUNCHES THE MABOQUEIRO OFFSHORE PLATFORM
Maboqueiro, the largest and heaviest ever built by the Group, is destined for gas extraction from the Maboqueiro field in Angola. This impressive structure represents an extraordinary achievement for the Group and marks its first EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) project executed for Azule Energy, a company jointly owned by ENI and one of the leading players in the country's Oil & Gas sector. The project’s complexity required approximately 24 months of tendering due to the scale of the construction and the numerous interfaces involved.
The Maboqueiro EPC Project is part of the Angola NGC (New Gas Consortium) Project, aimed at extracting condensate gas from two fields named Quiluma and Maboqueiro. These fields are characterized by multiple layers containing gas and condensate, with a development plan that includes the construction of two platforms, a new onshore gas reception and processing facility, and pipelines for transporting the extracted materials. Production is scheduled to begin in 2026, with an estimated capacity of 330 million cubic feet of gas per day, equivalent to approximately 4 billion cubic meters per year.
The Maboqueiro platform, built by Gruppo Antonini, consists of a jacket—a marine structure made of tubular steel components anchored to the seabed with four 88-meter-long piles. At its top, a three-level deck measuring 25x30 meters is added, bringing the total weight to 2,600 tons, making it the heaviest ever built by the Group. The platform features a capacity of 6 well slots (4 operational + 2 reserved), and the gas operating pressure will reach 60 bar during the operational phase.
Among the unique aspects of the project is the adoption of a new method for lifting the jacket, which had never been used by the Group before. Thanks to a custom-designed system, it was possible to assemble the jacket components in a confined space, overcoming a significant logistical challenge.
Additionally, this project featured the complete digitization of all quality reports, managed through a software called CCMS. This system enables various operations, some of which are linked to the maintenance phase.
